New BIP deadline: March 29; New BTOP deadline for CCI projects: March 26
NTIA and RUS have announced extensions of the deadlines for some, but not all, submissions in response to the Second Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) issued as part of the Big Money Hand-out made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Applications for Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) funding will now be due at RUS by 5:00 p.m. (ET) on March 29, 2010. Applications for Comprehensive Community Infrastructure (CCI) projects under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) will now be due at NTIA by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on March 26, 2010.
It’s not clear why one agency opted for March 26 while the other opted for March 29, but would-be applicants should be sure to note that the deadlines for NTIA and RUS applications responsive to the Second NOFA are no longer identical.
Also, the extensions do NOT apply to requests for NTIA/BTOP funds for Public Computer Center projects or Sustainable Broadband Adoption projects. The deadline for applications for such projects remains 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on March 15. Check out our blog post about the Second NOFA for further details about the different types of projects.
