| (a) The office shall establish the eligibility and
award criteria applicable for each round of competitive grant funding
by publishing the criteria in a notice of funds availability as provided
by §16.31 of this subchapter. In establishing eligibility and
award criteria, the office shall:
(1) prioritize applications that expand access to and
adoption of broadband service in designated areas in which the highest
percentage of broadband serviceable locations are unserved or underserved
locations;
(2) prioritize applications that expand access to broadband
service in public and private primary and secondary schools and institutions
of higher education;
(3) prioritize applications that connect end-user locations
with end-to-end fiber optic facilities that meet speed, latency, reliability,
consistency, scalability, and related criteria as the office shall
determine;
(4) give preference to applicants that provide the
information requested by the office under Government Code, §490I.0105
and §490I.01061; and
(5) take into consideration whether an applicant has
forfeited federal funding for defaulting on a project to deploy qualifying
broadband service.
(b) In addition to the evaluation criteria provided
under subsection (a) of this section, the office may include and provide
preferences for the following evaluation criteria in the notice of
funds availability:
(1) application participant(s) experience;
(2) technical specifications including broadband transmission
speeds (Mbps upload and download) that will be deployed as a result
of the project;
(3) estimated project completion date;
(4) the availability of matching funds including amount,
percentage, and source of matching funds;
(5) cost effectiveness and overall impact as measured
by the total project cost, the total number of prospective broadband
service locations to be served by the project, the proportion of unserved
and underserved locations to be served by the project compared to
the number of serviceable locations within the designated area(s)
the project is located, the proportion of recipients to be served
by the project compared to the population of the designated area(s)
in which the project is located, and the project cost per prospective
broadband service recipient;
(6) geographic location including, but not limited
to, rural areas where because of population density the cost of broadband
expansion is characterized by disproportionately high capital and
operational costs;
(7) community, non-profit, or cooperative support or
participation in the project;
(8) affordability of broadband services in the areas
in which the proposed project is located prior to the deployment of
broadband services as a result of the project;
(9) consumer price of broadband services that applicant
proposes to deploy as a result of the project;
(10) participation in federal programs that provide
low-income consumers with subsidies for broadband services;
(11) small business and historically underutilized
business involvement or subcontracting participation; and
(12) any additional factors the office may determine
are necessary to further the expansion and adoption of broadband service.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (a)(3) of this section,
the office may consider an application for a broadband infrastructure
project that does not employ end-to-end fiber optic facilities if
the use of an alternative technology:
(1) is proposed for a high-cost area;
(2) may be deployed at a lower cost than deploying
fiber optic technology; or
(3) meets the speed, latency, reliability, consistency,
scalability, and related criteria as the office shall determine for
each applicable notice of funds availability.
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