Federal Stimulus

In January 2009, the United States Congress passed the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).  ARRA included $7 billion in new funding for broadband initiatives. Two of these initiatives were the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) housed at the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the Broadband Improvement Program (BIP) administered by the Rural Utility Service (RUS).
 
The BTOP and BIP provide grants and or loans to fund the development and expansion of broadband infrastructure, including the deployment of new broadband infrastructure, computing centers and sustainable broadband adoption programs. 

Ensuring that all American’s have access to affordable, high-speed broadband Internet is considered essential to the economic vitality of the United States. The effort to expand broadband infrastructure is often compared with earlier efforts to build the country’s electric grid and interstate highway system. 

Together the BTOP and BIP will increase jobs, spur investments in technology and infrastructure, and provide long-term economic benefits across the United States and its territories.

For more information on either the BIP or BTOP please visit www.broadbandusa.gov.

Additionally, ARRA funded the State Broadband Initiative (SBI) program at the NTIA with $300 million. The principal mission of SBI is to fund the development of data sets and mapping of broadband infrastructure and availability in all 50 US states and 6 territories to.  This information has been collected by the NTIA and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and assembled into the first National Broadband Map. 

For more information on the SBI program please visit www2.ntia.doc.gov/SBDD and to view the National Broadband Map please visit broadbandmap.gov.