Broadband Outreach & Aggregation Fund (BOAF)

Through Act 183 of 2004, Pennsylvania is working to encourage the provision of telecommunications services as a means to enhancing the quality of life of the residents of Pennsylvania and the vitality of its businesses, to ensure that broadband communications become available to residents in a more equitable and accelerated fashion, to promote and encourage the provision of competitive services by a variety of providers on equal terms throughout all geographical areas of this Commonwealth, to encourage the competitive supply of broadband services in any region where there is market demand, and to provide resources to generate such demand. The Broadband Outreach & Aggregation Fund (BOAF) program provides grant assistance to qualified applicants to implement outreach and aggregation programs to speed the deployment of broadband service throughout Pennsylvania.

Click here for a listing and description of prior BOAF projects.

Guidelines:

• Broadband Guidelines (Adobe PDF)

Uses:

Outreach programs leading to increased awareness of the benefits, use and procurement of broadband services; and

Seed grants to aggregate customer demand for broadband services in communities or political subdivisions with limited access to such services, so that telecommunications providers can respond to the new demand for services in a more timely fashion.

Grant funds may not be used for costs related to the deployment of telecommunications infrastructure, indirect costs, or travel outside of the country

Funding:

Variable

Eligibility:

Political subdivisions, economic development entities, schools, health care facilities, businesses, and residential customers. The Department will not consider grant applications from providers of telecommunications services or from residential customers applying on their own behalf.

Terms:

As set forth in the program guidelines.

Where to Apply:

Applications are due no later than 11:59PM on Monday, December 21, 2009. Applications received after this deadline may be considered subject to the availability of funding. Applications must be submitted online using the Single Application for Assistance. For assistance in completing the Single Application, call 1-800-379-7448.

Purpose of Funding:

• Community Development
• Economic Development