The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have just launched “BroadbandMatch” a new online tool to help develop partnerships among prospective applicants to the broadband grant and loan program.
BroadbandMatch at http://match.broadbandusa.gov enables potential applicants to find partners so that applicants can combine expertise and create stronger proposals. For example, a broadband infrastructure provider might be able to partner with community institutions, such as universities, hospitals, libraries and work together on a proposal to bring high speed internet service to their facilities.
Any company, nonprofit, state, local government, or expert individuals interested in applying for funding under NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) or RUS’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) can post a profile with information on how they can contribute to make a broadband project successful and then at the same time use the site to search for other stakeholders whose skills and resources match their needs.
Both RUS and NTIA plan to announce the rules for the final funding round of the BTOP and BIP programs in the coming weeks.
