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
