Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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target markets in the proposed service area. Additionally, recipients are encouraged to require that services provided by a broadband infrastructure project include at least one low-cost option offered without data usage caps at speeds that are sufficient for a household with multiple users to simultaneously telework and engage in remote learning. Treasury will require recipients to report speed, pricing, and any data allowance information as part of their mandatory reporting to Treasury. Further, Treasury is clarifying that, as a response to the public health and negative economic impacts of the pandemic, recipients may provide households and communities impacted by the pandemic with subsidies to help pay for internet service, digital literacy programs, broadband adoption programs, and device programs that provide discounted or no - cost devices for low-income households to access the internet. For further discussion of this eligible use category, see the section Internet Assistance in Assistance to Households in Public Health and Negative Economic Impacts. Public Networks The interim final rule encouraged recipients to prioritize support for local networks owned, operated, or affiliated with local governments, nonprofits, and cooperatives. Public Comment: Many commenters voiced their support for Treasury's encouragement that recipients work with governmental or community entities to establish local networks, arguing that they have been shown to effectively provide broadband access to areas that would otherwise be left with unaffordable or insufficient service. These commenters suggested that, since these entities are less driven by financial returns to investment than private providers, in 309