As you may know, the first round of grant money in the Broadband 
Technology Opportunities (BTOP) program has closed and awards made. As 
best I know, no disability groups applied directly or were partners in 
any awards, although some COAT affiliates may have been prospective 
partners in some project applications.   A second and final round of 
applications for millions of dollars has just begun. Also, the 
awarding agencies, National Telecom Information Admin (NTIA) and US 
Dept of Agriculture (USDA)/Rural Utilities Service (RUS) are holding 
workshops to review the agencies' rules for funding the Broadband 
Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and RUS's Broadband Initiative 
Program (BIP).

On January 15, 2010, the Dept of Commerce announced the availability 
of $4.8 billion more in grants and loans in this final round. In order 
to assist prospective applicants BTOP and BIP are hosting workshops 
around the country to review the agencies' rules in this funding round 
described in two separate but complementary Notices of Funds 
Availability (NOFA). These two agencies plan to accept applications 
from February 16, 2010, to March 15, 2010, and should announce all 
awards by September 30, 2010.  Attendees may pre-register for one or 
more events online at  http://go.usa.gov/1Dn or register at the 
workshop directly. Press Release on the Notice of Funds Availability 
at 
http://broadbandusa.gov/files/BTOP%20and%20BIP%20NOFA%20II%20release%20final%20101510.pdf
In addition, NTIA will host pre-conference workshops (Atlanta Georgia 
Feb 11; Detroit Michigan Feb 4;  San Antonio, Texas Jan 31) at three 
workshop locations to address the unique concerns and challenges faced 
by minority stakeholders, including socially and economically 
disadvantaged small businesses and minority serving institutions. I 
believe this includes organizations that are disability-related and 
believe the pre-conference workshops may present opportunities at the 
local level to become involved directly or indirectly to strengthen 
other groups' proposals at the local level.  The pre-conference 
workshop will be the day before the BTOP/BIP technical assistance 
workshop, followed by a networking reception and workshop 
pre-registration. The dates and locations for these pre-conference 
workshops are listed at http://go.usa.gov/1Dn

For more information on the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), 
info sheets, awarded project descriptions, workshops and pre-event 
schedules, visit http://broadbandusa.gov  
Workshop dates and locations include:
January 26 - Portland, Oregon;
January 27 - Reno, NV;
January 29 - Denver, CO;
February 1 - San Antonio, TX (January 31st BTOP Pre-Conference, 2-5 p.m.);
February 4 - Sioux Falls, SD;
February 5 - Detroit, MI (February 4th BTOP Pre-Conference, 2-5 p.m.);
February 9- Blacksburg, VA;
February 11- Fayetteville, NC;
February 12- Atlanta, GA (February 11th BTOP Pre-Conference, 3-6 p.m.).


Jenifer Simpson
Senior Director, Government Affairs
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
1629 K Street, NW, Suite 950, Washington, DC USA 20006
Tel: 202-521-4310; Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


More at http://www.aapd.com

AAPD is a founding and steering committee member of the Coalition of 
Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)

More at http:/www.coataccess.org
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