American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

On February 17, 2009 Congress passed, and the President signed, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. A far reaching piece of legislation, the act provided funding for a host of economic recovery and technology programs.

Building upon the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA) of 2008, this act allocated substantial addition funding for broadband infrastructure development and effective new broadband adoption programs.

State Broadband Data and Development Program

In addition to funding for broadband infrastructure, public computer centers and sustainable adoption programs, stimulus funds were made available for broadband mapping and planning.

The State Broadband Data and Development (SBDD) Grant Program is a matching grant program that implements the joint purposes of the ARRA and the BDIA. The program provides grants to assist states or their designees in gathering and verifying state-specific data on the availability and location of broadband services. The data they collect and compile will also be used to develop publicly available statewide broadband maps and to inform the comprehensive, interactive and searchable national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by February 17, 2011.

The national broadband map will publicly display the geographic areas where broadband service is available. It will also be searchable by address, showing the broadband providers offering service in the corresponding census block or street segment.

Awardees were required to contribute at least 20 percent non-federal matching funds toward project costs. In addition, while the BDIA mandated that each state designate only one eligible entity to receive funds under the program, each state's applicant was carefully evaluated and met the standards described in NTIA's Notice of Funds Availability for this program in order to receive funding.

LinkWISCONSIN Team

Gov. Doyle designated the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) as the sole Wisconsin entity eligible to apply for and receive a federal mapping/planning grant under NTIA's SBDD. The PSC selected the LinkAMERICA Alliance as the SBDD project management team for the State.

In Nov. 2009, NTIA awarded approximately $1.7 million for the statewide mapping and planning effort, known as LinkWISCONSIN. The initiative is charged with developing a long-term, sustainable plan for increasing access to and use of broadband across the State. Read full Executive Summary for Wisconsin's initial SBDD grant application.

In summer 2010, NTIA announced they would accept updated grant applications from states to fund mapping and planning efforts for three additional years. An application was submitted for Wisconsin's continued SBDD efforts on July 1, 2010, and the state was awarded an additional $2.82 million to fund Wisconsin's broadband mapping and planning project for years 3-5.

The LinkWISCONSIN Mission in Addressing Broadband Challenges and Solutions

LinkWISCONSIN is not intended to replace or compete with other broadband efforts in our state, but rather to identify and work with new and existing projects that share our goal. Through collaboration, we can finally realize greater access to and use of broadband technologies to improve business opportunities and the quality of life for all Wisconsinites.