Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
The Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is an approximately $4 billion grant program administered by NTIA to help bridge the technological divide; create jobs; and improve education, health care, and public safety in communities across the country. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, BTOP projects are deploying broadband Internet infrastructure, enhancing and expanding public computer centers, and encouraging the sustainable adoption of broadband service.
See also: NTIA's Recovery Act broadband programs
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Bringing Broadband to Rural South Dakota
To understand how rural South Dakota is, consider this: The state ranks 17th in the nation in terms of geographic size, but 46th in population - with fewer than 820,000 people, according to the 2010 Census. In some parts of South Dakota, the distance between farmsteads can be six miles. Cattle outnumber people four to one.
For telecommunications companies, the state’s sparse population means that there are not enough customers in many places to enable them to recoup costly investments in advanced telecommunications networks needed to deliver high-speed Internet service.
But even in the most remote corners of the country, access to broadband is becoming critical to fully participating in today’s digital society and information-age economy.
That’s why NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program awarded a $20.6 million grant to SDN Communications just over three years ago to bring broadband to parts of South Dakota that otherwise might never get it. The grant was one of the first to be announced in the $4 billion BTOP program, which is investing in roughly 230 projects nationwide that are building the technology infrastructure and skills that America needs to compete in the 21st century.
SDN Communications, a partnership of 27 independent telecom carriers covering 80 percent of South Dakota, is using its BTOP funding to expand its 1,850-mile, 800-gigabit fiber network by almost 400 additional miles and add an additional 100 gigabits of bandwidth along high-capacity routes.
Assistant Secretary Strickling Statement on FirstNet Board Resolution on BTOP Projects
“NTIA thanks the Board for conducting this review expeditiously. NTIA is pleased that today’s resolution charts a path to allow the resumption of these projects in accordance with the two conditions set out when we partially suspended the projects last year:
- The grant money will remain in the communities that received the grant.
- The grant dollars will be spent on facilities and equipment that can be incorporated into FirstNet’s nationwide network , or that will yield valuable data and information to guide FirstNet.”
Statement of FirstNet Board Chairman Sam Ginn Following February Board Meeting
“The FirstNet Board has been hard at work now for five months, laying the groundwork for what will be one of the largest telecommunications networks ever built. We understand the enormity of our task at hand, and the urgency to get it done as expeditiously as possible. But we want to get it right.