[1st-mile-nm] NTIA BTOP Quarterly Report

[Richard Lowenberg]

The NTIA BTOP Quarterly ARRA Broadband Status Report to Congress – Jan. 2014
included mention of two New Mexico projects, as copied below.

For the complete report:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/ntia_btop_19th_quarterly_report.pdf 
 
State Broadband Initiative
 
In implementing the New Mexico Broadband Program (NMBBP), the New Mexico Department of Information Technology (DOIT) recognized that the most effective way to encourage broadband use was to provide a combination of digital skills training and affordable access.  
 
To meet this need, DOIT developed a Train the Trainer Toolkit to help organizations, institutions, and businesses deliver digital literacy training for their employees and clients. The Toolkit contained 26 training modules on basic and business digital skills, and emphasized the application of these skills for successful engagement in the professional, social, medical, and civic realms. In addition, the Toolkit included information about technical requirements, best practices for promoting classes, instruction in adult learning theory, and model training videos to support beginning trainers. DOIT also held 11 in-person workshops to train digital literacy instructors throughout the state on how to use Toolkit resources to communicate with staff at
libraries, small business development centers, community colleges, non-profits, and local businesses or technical providers. The NMBBP Train the Trainer program had a far-reaching impact across the state, touching nearly 100 trainers directly and more than 1,000 end users indirectly, through the trainers’ classes. The program was especially valuable in more remote regions where the need for training was high and resources were largely absent. Trainers in those areas learned new skills, connected with fellow instructors, and gained access to a rich repository of training resources. To quote one participant, “The workshop and materials are all excellent. Now we need you to come back and spend three more days here.”
 
Public Safety 700 MHz Projects
 
NTIA awarded seven BTOP infrastructure grants for public safety projects that were designed to utilize the 700 MHz public safety spectrum. After passage of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, which authorized and provided funding to the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) to implement a nationwide public safety broadband network, NTIA partially suspended the public safety awards in May 2012 to ensure that the projects would proceed in a manner that supported the network’s development.
 
As of September 30, two public safety recipients, the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LA-RICS) and the New Mexico Department of Information Technology have successfully reached agreements with FirstNet on terms and conditions of spectrum leases. Four other public safety recipients have continued negotiations with FirstNet for spectrum leases required for their BTOP projects to move forward. The City of Charlotte discontinued spectrum lease negotiations and isdeveloping an alternative plan. This quarter, NTIA granted extensions to three public safety recipients—LA-RICS, the New Mexico Department of Information Technology, and Adams County Communications Center—to begin or resume their projects. NTIA continues to monitor the progress of the discussions between the remaining public safety recipients and FirstNet. If the negotiations successfully result in spectrum leases, NTIA may recommend lifting the partial suspension of BTOP funding so projects can resume activities in support of building a nationwide public safety broadband network.


---------------------------------------------------------
Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
1st-Mile Institute          www.1st-mile.org  
P. O.  Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM    87504
505-603-5200                 rl at 1st-mile.org
---------------------------------------------------------






-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/1st-mile-nm/attachments/20140219/fd37d79e/attachment.html>