August 2023 Newsletter
I Date: August, 2023 I Full PDF can be downloaded here
What’s New!
BEAD Timeline!
Article by broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov
“…The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Timeline page provides an overview with important dates and milestones related to the program. Whether you're a grantee, a stakeholder, or simply interested in the program's progress, follow along as we mark key milestones, from the program's launch to the announcement of grant recipients and to project completion.
LOIs must be signed by the Governor or equivalent chief executive of the Eligible Entity and submitted through the NTIA portal by July 18, 2022. Applicants are not required to include a request for planning funds with the LOI, which does not automatically result in the release of planning funds..
An Eligible Entity that receives Initial Planning Funds must submit to the Assistant Secretary a Five-Year Action Plan that establishes the State or Territory’s broadband goals and priorities and serves as a comprehensive needs assessment that will inform the State or Territory’s Initial Proposal.
NTIA expects to offer technical assistance with regard to the Five-Year Action Plan and to provide specific feedback in response to each plan submitted, which can facilitate later steps in the BEAD Program’s process. 270 days for this process.
Eligible Entities will have 180 days from receipt of the Notice of Available Amounts to develop and submit an Initial Proposal, which will, among other things, describe the competitive process the Eligible Entity proposes to use to select subgrantees to construct broadband projects. Prior to submission to NTIA, the Initial Proposal must be made available for public comment, and the Initial Proposal must incorporate local coordination feedback for the Assistant Secretary’s review.
After the Eligible Entity has selected subgrantees and otherwise executed its approved Initial Proposal, it will submit to NTIA a Final Proposal describing how it complied with that Initial Proposal and the results of its processes. NTIA will award the remaining funds allocated to the Eligible Entity upon approval of the Eligible Entity’s Final Proposal, and Eligible Entities will initiate their subgrants for the remaining 80 percent of funding and any portion of the original 20 percent that the Eligible Entity has not yet awarded as a subgrant. Prior to submission to NTIA the Final Proposal must be made available for public comment….”
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About Us
Who we are
ECC Technologies was incorporated in 1995 to provide technology and communications consulting services to Educational, Community, and Corporate (ECC) clients. This was at the time when the nation’s telecom- communications industry was changing drastically through deregulation.
For the past 20 years, ECC has provided technology and security consulting services to education, municipalities, government, and corporate clients.
ECC continues our mission to assist clients with the expansion of broadband and the implementation of technology and security solutions in communities to improve economic development, public safety, education, and health- care services.
Success Stories - Washington County NY Broadband Inventory
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About
In March of 2021, Washington County Economic Development and Planning in partnership with the Lake Champlain - Lake George Regional Planning Board (LC-LG RPB) commissioned a study to accurately identify areas of the County that are lacking in broadband infrastructure. In addition, the data collected from this effort will be able to be used in the next steps to develop a technological solution to address the lack of broadband in unserved and underserved areas of the County and obtain partners and funding to address these issues.
Scope
ECC Technologies, Inc. (ECC) performed the broadband study by conducting an inventory of existing fiber optic, coaxial assets, and other broadband-supporting infrastructure within Washington County, New York. In addition, ECC, in conjunction with Washington County Economic Development and Planning and LC-LG RPB, conducted a survey of residents and businesses to evaluate broadband adoption in the County.
The inventory project included a field inventory of the County’s existing broadband infrastructure, namely the fiber optic, coaxial cable, and tower infrastructure. ECC’s OSP team drove the roads in the County and to the extent possible, physically identified and documented the County’s existing broadband infrastructure.
The ECC team with the gathered field data created an ESRI GIS database of the infrastructure from which maps of the County’s infrastructure were created and included in the report.