BTOP Baseline Report for Sustainable Broadband Adoption

	Broadband Technology Opportunities Program BTOP Baseline Report for Sustainable Broadband Adoption Projects Version 2.0 OMB Control No. 0660-0035 Expiration date: 10/31/2010

Contents

Baseline Report Introduction 2

Baseline Report Form 3

Baseline Report Instructions 5

Baseline Report Introduction

Dear BTOP Recipient,

As outlined in your grant special award conditions, you are required to submit a baseline report by November 15, 2010, containing a quarter-by-quarter timeline with details about key activities, milestones, and outcomes from your project.¹ We understand that your previously estimated milestones and key indicators may have changed as a result of Federal bidding requirements, special award conditions, new information, or other events. This report allows us to establish a common understanding of your project. The baseline report will be kept confidential except as required by law.

In addition to the baseline report, all grant recipients are also required to file a BTOP-specific quarterly performance report. This report is due on October 30, 2010. Quarterly performance reports are required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Under the Act, all entities receiving grant money must report quarterly on their use of the federal assistance and their progress in fulfilling the objections for which the funds were granted. Quarterly performance reports will be made publicly available via the Internet. The template for the first performance report and accompanying instructions will be provided separately.

Please complete the following baseline report forms, which request a variety of data about your project, including milestones and indicators of project success. You will report on this same information in your quarterly and annual reports and will be held responsible for meeting the targets that you set for yourself. 

This baseline report consists of two components:

Milestone Categories:

All projects must be fully completed no later than three years following the date of the issuance of the award. Please use the table provided to indicate your anticipated percentage of completion by quarter for each year of your project. Year One begins with your award start date. The percentage of completion should be based primarily on the expenditure of your project budget (federal and matching funds) and should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of each quarter. Please also provide a brief description (100 words or less) of the primary activities involved in meeting each milestone (a single description should be provided for each milestone, covering all quarters in years one through three).

Key Indicators:

Please use the table provided to provide anticipated key indicators for your Sustainable Broadband Adoption project (e.g., household subscribers). Figures should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of the quarter or year.

Once completed, the baseline report should be e-mailed to your Program Officer no later than November 15, 2010. Please save your report using the naming format “BaselineReport_OrgName_DDMonthYY” (e.g., “BaselineReport_TwitchellTelecom_15November10”).² E-mail the file to your Program Officer with “Baseline Project Plan” as the subject line. Your Program Officer may follow up with you to discuss your report.

Please do not hesitate to contact your Program Officer with any questions.

Baseline Report Form

MILESTONES

SUSTAINABLE BROADBAND ADOPTION MILESTONE CATEGORIES

All projects must be fully completed no later than three years following the date of the issuance of the award. Please use the table provided to indicate your anticipated percentage of completion by quarter for each year of your project. Year One begins with your award start date. For Round 2 BTOP recipients’ baseline documents, the quarter ending September 30, 2010 is “Q1” and the quarter ending June 30, 2013 is “Q12.”  Please include any data attributable to the “carry-over” months (i.e., July, August, and/or September 2013) in your baseline data for “Q12.” The percentage of completion should be based primarily on the expenditure of your project budget (federal and matching funds) and should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of each quarter. For example, if you expect to complete a particular milestone within the first three quarters of your project, the third quarter and all subsequent quarters should state 100%. Please also provide a brief description (100 words or less) of the primary activities involved in meeting each milestone (a single description should be provided for each milestone, covering all quarters in years one through three). Please write “N/A” if your project does not include an activity. If necessary, please insert additional milestones at the bottom of the chart.

MILESTONE CATEGORIES

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

Primary Activities

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

1. Overall Project

2. Equipment/Supply Purchases

3. Awareness Campaigns

4. Outreach Activities

5. Training Programs

6. Other (please specify):

KEY INDICATORS

SUSTAINABLE BROADBAND ADOPTION KEY INDICATORS

Please use the following table to indicate anticipated key indicators for your SBA project. Figures should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of the quarter for Quarterly Indicators or through the end of the year for the Annual Indicator Please write “N/A” if your project does not include this indicator.

QUARTERLY INDICATORS

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

1. New subscribers: households

2. New subscribers: businesses and community anchor institutions

3. Federal grant expenditures

4. Matching funds expenditures

ANNUAL INDICATOR

YEAR 1

YEAR 2

YEAR 3

5. Number of participants completing training

MEASUREMENT

6. Please describe below your method for determining the number of additional subscribers created as a result of your project.

CURRENT LEVEL OF ADOPTION

Please estimate the current level of broadband adoption in the community(ies) and/or area(s) your project serves, and explain your methodology for estimating the level of broadband adoption.

7a. Adoption Level (%):

7b. Narrative description of adoption level and methodology.

Baseline Report Instructions

Line Item Instructions for the Baseline Report Attachment

(BTOP Baseline Report for Sustainable Broadband Adoption Projects)

Question Number	Reporting Item	Instructions	Clarifications and Definitions
Milestone Categories
1	Overall Project	All projects must be fully completed no later than three years following the date of the issuance of the award. Please use the table provided to indicate your anticipated percentage of completion by quarter for each year of your project. Year One begins with your award start date. For Round 2 BTOP recipients’ baseline documents, the quarter ending September 30, 2010 is “Q1” and the quarter ending June 30, 2013 is “Q12.”  Please include any data attributable to the “carry-over” months (i.e., July, August, and/or September 2013) in your baseline data for “Q12.” The percentage of completion should be based primarily on the expenditure of your project budget (federal and matching funds) and should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of each quarter. For example, if you expect to complete a particular milestone within the first three quarters of your project, the third quarter and all subsequent quarters should state 100%. Please also provide a brief description (100 words or less) of the primary activities involved in meeting each milestone (a single description should be provided for each milestone, covering all quarters in years one through three). Please write “N/A” if your project does not include an activity. If necessary, please insert additional milestones at the bottom of the chart.	This field should include all milestones and activities associated with your project; it is therefore based on the expenditure of your entire project budget.
2	Equipment/Supply Purchases		Equipment and supply purchases include the acquisition of all SBA equipment, including any customer premise equipment or end-user devices (e.g., workstations, software, network equipment). Equipment is defined as tangible, nonexpendable, personal property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. Supplies are defined as all tangible personal property other than “equipment”.
3	Awareness Campaigns		“Awareness Campaigns” include activities and expenditures related to paid and earned media activities, advertisements, and the preparation and dissemination of broadband materials. If your project includes more than one campaign, please roll them all into a single percentage. Therefore, 100% would mean that all campaigns have been completed.
4	Outreach Activities		“Outreach Activities” include activities and expenditures related to in person meetings or events with potential partner organizations, potential broadband subscribers, and potential program participants. If your project includes multiple outreach activities, please roll them into a single percentage. Therefore, 100% would mean that all outreach activities have been completed.
5	Training Programs		Training programs include all scheduled training classes. If your project includes multiple training programs, please roll them into a single percentage. Therefore, 100% would mean that all training programs have been completed.
6	Other		If your project includes specific milestones that do not fit into one of the categories defined above, please list those specific milestones and provide the requested completion data.
Key Indicators
1-4	Quarterly Indicators	Please use the following table to indicate anticipated key indicators for your SBA project. Figures should be reported cumulatively from award inception through the end of the quarter.	Please provide the total numbers for each indicator; for indicators that do not apply, please write “N/A.” New subscribers include households, businesses, or community anchor institutions (CAIs) in the target community(ies) and/or area(s) that did not subscribe to broadband prior to the start of your project. Federal grant expenditures are grant money expended on a quarterly basis for the life of the project.
5	Annual Indicator		Number of participants completing training refers to the number of individuals attending and completing a training program (e.g., Office Skills, GED, College Prepartory, Basic Internet and Computer Use, Certified Training Programs, etc.) offered through the SBA project.
6	Measurement	Please describe below your method for determining the number of additional subscribers created as a result of your project.	Methods for calculating the number of subscribers may include use of broadband provider statistics, surveys, interviews, campaign attendance records, or any other measurable data collection method.
7a-b	Current Level of Adoption	Please estimate the current level of broadband adoption in the community(ies) and/or area(s) your project serves, and explain your methodology for estimating the level of broadband adoption.	For most projects, the level of broadband adoption will mean the percentage of households, businesses, and/or CAIs subscribing to broadband service. If your project utilizes a different definition of broadband adoption, please include an explanation.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act, as amended, no person is required to respond to, nor shall any person be subject to penalty for failure to comply with, a collection of information subject to the requirements of the PRA, unless that collection of information displays a currently valid OMB control number. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 2 hours and 6 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Anthony G. Wilhelm, Director, Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, Office of Telecommunications and Information Applications, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W., HCHB, Room 4887, Washington, D.C. 20230.

1 The special award condition describes the deadline as “within 45 days of the close of the first quarter,” which would yield a deadline of Sunday, November 14, 2010. NTIA will consider the baseline report timely if filed by November 15, 2010.

2 If you received multiple awards, you may use “BaselineReport_OrgName_AwardNumber_DDMonthYY.”