https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Commentaries


Pixabay

Commentary

How local governments can prepare for the new federal broadband grants

How local governments can prepare for the new federal broadband grants

  • Written by Mike Hernon
  • 12th August 2021

The recent infrastructure deal in the Senate increases the chances of seeing significant new, federal money being made available to states and cities to address the lack of access to affordable, high-speed broadband. In its current state, $65 billion will be made available for underserved areas in both rural and more densely populated jurisdictions.

It will be a few months for the House and Senate to finalize the bill, but as there is little disagreement on its merits some version of it is likely to pass. Savvy government leaders will use this time to increase their chances of getting a share of these funds by getting their grant strategy in place. Having served as an expert, outside reviewer over several years for a government broadband grants program, it has become clear to me that there are consistent areas where many applications are weak, leading to low scores from reviewers and ultimately, being denied the grant. Broadband grants are highly competitive—paying attention to the following areas will, I guarantee, substantially improve your odds of success.

Start the process now. If you haven’t already begun, you’re behind. A good grant application will reflect that a substantial amount of organization and preparatory work has been done before the application was even started. While we don’t know what the ultimate grant program will look like, we do know what areas are universally included in broadband grants, so you should begin to develop or enhance those areas now. Too many grant applications I’ve reviewed look like they were afterthoughts put together only after the grant applications were released.

You need a broadband program. Grant programs like to see approaches that are “shovel-ready.” You should have a comprehensive program in place now with these pieces at a minimum: a strategic plan; people and organizations with roles and responsibilities; a good understanding of your status quo based on research, studies or surveys; and an overall project plan. Applications that state they “will” develop a program, or describe one that was obviously slapped together at the last minute will compare unfavorably against your competitors—they’ve been holding meetings for months.

Everybody has the same vision. The benefits of broadband are widely known and generally accepted by all—some of us were making these same arguments more than 20 years ago. As a result, you don’t need to spend a lot of time describing the generic benefits of broadband. What I as a reviewer of your grant don’t know is how it will help your particular community. Your vision should describe how your community will leverage the grant to improve education, health, economic development, public safety, etc. Include all areas that are relevant to your approach and leave out what is not.

Be credible. A surprising number of grant applications I’ve reviewed can best be described as being “fanciful.” Common among the mistakes is overstating the number of jobs created or retained; incredibly high broadband take rates; unreasonable timelines for completing the necessary bidding and contracting; and construction schedules that could never be met. Another is the “If we build the network the ISPs will come” argument. Unless you have proof of interest otherwise, such as the results of an RFI, I would avoid this argument. There are many factors in commercial ISP decisions, and you offering dark fiber for lease will not necessarily change their calculation. Remember, the granting authority has a responsibility to only approve funding for programs that are judged likely to succeed. Your approach has to be credible—incredible applications are rarely approved.

Develop partnerships now. Partnerships are crucial, but they take time to develop. They help with your credibility, sustainability and overall capacity, and are required in some grant programs. Partnerships should be diverse and reach beyond the government sphere. For example, local colleges and universities often have technical resources that they can bring to bear. Likewise, publicly owned utilities make excellent broadband partners—they have rights-of-way, network management, billing and customer support in place already. Local chambers of commerce and other non-profit organizations are usually more than happy to support the effort. Try to establish two types of partners—those that will play a role in program execution and those that will provide letters of support. One technique I’ve found that helps is to have the Mayor or County Executive host a briefing by the project team for all potential partners—people tend to accept those invitations.

Think sustainability. Sustainability to some degree depends on future events that you can’t control. So, reviewers look for reasonable assumptions in judging how sustainable your approach will likely be. The key to broadband sustainability is generally Take Rate and Monthly Fees. If your application is for an extension of an existing solution, you can extrapolate those numbers from there; otherwise, a survey documenting the level of interest would assist your sustainability score. Merely positing that “x percent” will take the service at “x dollars” without data to back it up will lead to a poor sustainability score every time. Additional factors you should address include technical support, tech refresh and ongoing network management.

Write it right. Another surprisingly common problem is grant applications that are poorly written. In some cases, poor writing can make your argument difficult to comprehend, and it certainly suggests a cavalier attitude to the process. While you won’t be rated on your writing style per se, anything that makes reviewing your application more difficult can lead to lower scores. Also, have one person do the writing if you can so the entire application is in the same voice and style—but if you cut and paste content from multiple writers, please make sure the fonts match.

There are few applications I‘ve reviewed over the years that nail each of these perfectly. Fortunately, you don’t need a perfect “A” to get approved, many “B” applications get funded—“C”s and “D”s don’t. If you follow the above advice, you should be able to produce a Grade-A application and maximize your chances of success.

 

Mike Hernon ([email protected]) is the principal of the Public Sector Partnership Co. LLC. Previously, Hernon was the City of Boston CIO, where he led a robust broadband program. He wrote the broadband chapter in Public Technology Institute’s 2015 book CIO Leadership for Cities and Counties and has served as an expert reviewer for federal rural broadband grants on behalf of the Appalachian Regional Commission. 

 

 

Tags: homepage-featured-3 homepage-featured-4 Administration Economy Public Works & Utilities Smart Cities & Technology Commentaries Administration Economy Public Works & Utilities Smart Cities & Technology Commentary

Most Recent


  • Report: With increasing popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters, there's a need for 'safe and connected infrastructure'
    Electric scooters and e-bikes are rising in popularity. As transportation options diversify, local policymakers are beginning to integrate micromobility means as integral fixtures in transportation networks and climate action plans, given their health and climate benefits. But along with solutions, they’re also bringing with them a slew of hurdles. A report out of Oregon highlights […]
  • New York mayor announces city-wide curbside composting program, impacting 8.5 million residents by 2024
    On the heels of a successful 3-month-long pilot program in Queens, New York City has announced the largest curbside composting program in the United States. The initiative will begin following a winter-long hiatus of the Queens pilot, which is set to return permanently March 27. Curbside service to Brooklyn will begin Oct. 2, followed by the […]
  • Phoenix
    Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs
    Joe Giudice, public works director for the city of Phoenix, says the influx of new residents is driving a lot of construction in his community. “Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the United States. It is one of the fastest growing cities in a fast-growing region, which influences infrastructure product and service demand. This […]
  • How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient
    This article first appeared on Urgent Communication. It’s a scenario we’ve all experienced: an ambulance with a blaring siren racing against time to get a person in medical distress to a hospital through traffic. What we don’t see is 5G connectivity enabling paramedics to communicate with hospital staff via video conference and coordinate care in […]

One comment

  1. Avatar Maurice 8th September 2021 @ 5:18 am
    Reply

    Federal law vs federal notes

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Advocacy organizations voice support for bipartisan infrastructure plan
  • How local governments can prepare for the new federal broadband grants
    Coming soon: National broadband service
  • How local governments can prepare for the new federal broadband grants
    White House announces ARRA investments in broadband projects
  • How local governments can prepare for the new federal broadband grants
    Wireless at work

WHITE PAPERS


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022

Learn the benefits of transforming and automating your Contract Management process

4th November 2022
view all

Podcast


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023

10 American cities with a great downtown

24th January 2023

Miami leads the way in FT-Nikkei ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign companies

20th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Report: With increase popularity of e-bikes and e-scooters, there’s a need for ‘safe and connected infrastructure’ dlvr.it/ShlKmJ

31st January 2023
AmerCityCounty

New York mayor announces city-wide curbside composting program, impacting 8.5 million residents by 2024 dlvr.it/ShhRk1

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Federal funds help fast-growing Arizona city address several infrastructure challenges and needs dlvr.it/ShhBtf

30th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShYNcx

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Shifting city demographics present an opportunity to build coalitions, address inequality dlvr.it/ShYMMm

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Spending American Rescue Plan Act funds: A primer for municipalities dlvr.it/ShXzvl

27th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand dlvr.it/ShVhBW

26th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing dlvr.it/ShTpL6

26th January 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.