75 BTOP, SBI Projects Remained Active June 30, NTIA Says

Seventy-five NTIA-funded broadband projects in the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and State Broadband Initiative (SBI) remained in the process of completion as of June 30, NTIA said in a report released Tuesday. An additional 205 BTOP and SBI projects had finished their project activities by June 30, the agency said. The 75 BTOP/SBI projects “continued to exceed” goals for connecting subscribers and community institutions during the quarter that ended June 30 “and to make progress toward the miles goal,” NTIA said. The 20 active BTOP projects connected more than 400 additional community institutions during the quarter, bringing the total number of connected institutions to 25,300 -- ahead of the 23,000-institution goal set for fiscal year 2014, NTIA said. BTOP grantees also deployed or upgraded more than 400 additional network miles for a total of more than 112,700 miles of new or upgraded lines, the agency said. All four recipients of NTIA public safety project grants that subsequently executed spectrum lease agreements with FirstNet -- the Adams County Communications Center in Colorado, the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) and the states of New Jersey and New Mexico -- have resumed network design and construction activities, NTIA said. The agency had suspended all seven public safety grants it had awarded in 2010, before FirstNet’s creation, to allow FirstNet to evaluate them. Three of the grantees didn’t reach spectrum lease agreements with FirstNet -- the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, the state of Mississippi, and Motorola. The Adams County Communications Center completed 40 percent of its fiber work and completed LTE installation at six sites by the end of the quarter, NTIA said. LA-RICS made progress on planning and design work during the quarter, the agency said. New Jersey finalized statements of work for key components in its deployable network, NTIA said. New Mexico built 24 tower sites and identified seven LTE sites, along with working on a request for proposals for additional LTE buildout issues, NTIA said. Charlotte’s project was active at the end of the quarter but was moving forward with modifications that don’t require access to FirstNet spectrum, NTIA said. Mississippi and Motorola were in the process of closing out their awards, NTIA said.