The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) has released a Notice of Solicitation of Applications (NOSA) announcing that it is accepting applications for Fiscal Year 2018 (FY 2018) for the Rural Broadband Access Loans and Loan Guarantees Program (the Rural Broadband Program). Now that the FY 2018 Appropriates Act has passed, the total amount of funding under this NOSA will soon be posted on RUS’s website. RUS is accepting applications on a rolling basis throughout FY 2018, which ends on September30, 2018. This will give RUS the ability to request additional information and modifications to a submitted application whenever necessary. Submitted applications will be processed on a first-filed, first-served basis. RUS will conduct an evaluation of submitted applications every 90 days, and thus it anticipates conducting two evaluation periods through the end of FY 2018. During each evaluation period, applications will be ranked based on the percentage of unserved households that the applicant proposes to serve. Rural Broadband Program loans will be made available for the construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment that will provide service at the broadband lending speed of 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) downlink and 3 Mbps uplink in eligible rural areas. The minimum loan amount is $100,000 and the maximum loan amount is $25,000,000. Applications can only be submitted online through the RD Apply website. RUS no longer accepts paper applications. All prospective applicants must first register with RD Apply before submitting an application.
