Initial review of applications

Initial review of applications. After the closing of the application window, the Office will review all applications thoroughly and expeditiously. In conducting this review, the Office shall consider the following guidelines and factors for grants funding broadband deployment: (1) Funds for the grant programs must only be used by applicants for projects that exclusively extend broadband service as defined herein into areas of the state without such service; (2) Funds from federal broadband grant programs must be spent in accordance with federal laws, rules, regulations, and guidance, and federal laws, rules, regulations, and guidance shall supersede in any instance where the BEAM Act or a BEAM Rule conflicts; (3) The applicant’s experience and financial wherewithal to deploy, operate, and manage the proposed project and broadband service offerings, including evidence of the applicant’s successful operations of broadband services to retail end users; (4) The readiness to build, operate, and maintain the project; (5) Projects that will deploy broadband service to critical need areas; (6) The scalability of the proposed project network to support the deployment of higher broadband speeds over time; (7) The likelihood that the area will not be served with broadband service without such state or federal funding; (8) The applicant’s ability to demonstrate the community’s support for the project and a collaborated plan to leverage broadband services for community needs and economic development, such as rural development, education, tourism, new investment, or business attraction or retention; (9) A preference for those applications seeking to deploy and provide broadband services to areas in which there is currently no fixed terrestrial internet access service available; (10) Subject to subparagraph 9 above, no discrimination or preference to applications on the basis of the type of technology proposed by any applicant to be used to provide broadband services so long as the technology proposed meets the federal guidelines; (11) The size and scope of the project area to be deployed; and (12) The broadband service speed thresholds proposed in the application and the scalability of the broadband service network infrastructure proposed to be deployed to provide broadband service to households and businesses (with projects that do not meet the 100/100 Mbps symmetrical speed being subject to heightened review unless the applicant demonstrates excessive deployment costs per location or geographic barriers precluding such speeds).