FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PSC AWARDS SECOND ROUND OF GRANTS FOR
NEBRASKA BROADBAND BRIDGE PROGRAM
LINCOLN, DECEMBER 6, 2022 – The Nebraska Public Service
Commission today, Tuesday, December 6, approved an order
(C-5368) awarding 37 grants totaling $20,351,778.01 from the
Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program (NBBP).
“As expected, the second-year of the NBBP grant program has
surpassed the initial funding year,” said Commission Chair
Dan Watermeier. “We have a good process in place and are
eager to provide funding to continue broadband buildout to
unserved and underserved Nebraskans.”
During the 2022 grant cycle, the PSC received 115
applications for funding through the NBBP. As part of the
grant review process, the Commission also received
challenges from parties stating that they already served an
area covered by a grant application or they plan to provide
service to the area in the near future.
Upon review of the applications and challenges received,
the PSC determined 103 submissions remained for
consideration for funding. However, the funding needed
to fulfill all 103 applications far exceeded the $20.3 million
available for the 2022 grant cycle.
The Commission then applied a scoring system to the
applications to weigh them based on the projects details
and the applicants’ financial, legal, and technical capability
to build a broadband network. Projects were also ranked by
priority in bringing broadband to entirely unserved areas
first, before funding underserved areas. Once projects were
scored, the Commission awarded available funding until the
funds needed to support any given project were
exhausted.
The Commission determined 37 grants submitted by 14
providers would be approved and receive a total of
$20,351,778.01 in funding. Projects funded through today’s
award must be completed by June 6, 2024. Providers may
apply for an extension of this deadline for good cause.
A detail list of the approved projects and funding amounts
can be found on the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program
page of the PSC website.
Created by the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Act (Neb. Rev.
Stat §§ 86-1301 – 86-1312) the NBBP provides up to $20
million dollars annually for the deployment of broadband
networks capable of at least 100/100 Mbps (up/down) in
unserved and underserved areas of the state.###
Contact:
Deb Collins- Communications & Media Mgr.
(402) 471-0226/ deb.collins@nebraska.gov
