In the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress appropriates funds for the
Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which includes
competitive grants to (1) expand public computer centers capacity
projects to unserved/underserved populations to include the
benefits of boadband access; and (2) increase home adoption of
broadband service.
NTIA has designed the
Announcement of Proposed Funded Service Areas as a comment form for
broadband service providers to provide the agency with information
regarding their service offerings in the proposed funded service
areas of the proposed CCI projects. The service provider comment
form includes clear instructions, to allow service providers to
provide only the information relevant to the specific Census tracts
or block groups in which they currently provide service. The
revision of the service provider comment form is based on the
comments received in response to the first Notice of Funds
Availability A prompt OMB review and clearance of this proposed
revision will enable NTIA to post the form and open the comment
window as soon as possible to collect information from broadband
service providers regarding their service offerings in the proposed
funded service areas. The comments will be a critical part of the
assessment of Comprehensive Community Infrastructure applications
under the second round of funding, and comply with the Recovery
Acts deadline of September 30, 2010, for the award of BTOP
funds.
PL:
Pub.L. 111 - 5 123 Name of Law: American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009
PL: Pub.L. 111 - 5 123 Name of Law: American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
The program changes involve
revisions to the service provider comment form used for the first
round of funding based on comments received in response to the
First NOFA, the RFI, and the experience gained from administering
the first round of funding. These changes necessitated new
estimates for number of responses and burden hours for the
applications for Round Two. Also, feedback from service providers
indicated that the original hour burden estimates may have been too
low. NTIA evaluated and revised the estimates, which it believes
are more reasonable and will make it easier for service providers
to set aside enough time to fill out and submit the service
provider comment form during the comment window. Decrease in
responses from 3,000 to 750 Increase in burden hours from 4,500
to 22,500
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.