Yamhill County Broadband Fund
Overview
The Yamhill County Broadband Fund aims to provide up to $3 million of grant funds to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure across unserved and underserved locations. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) noted the opportunity for local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to challenge any proposed project area (PPA) for targeting locations deemed “served.” This memo discusses this process.
Yamhill Proposed Project Areas:
Alyrica Proposed Project Areas
The NOFO states the following definitions of broadband availability:
• Served Location: The household or business location has access to a broadband connection that reliably offers at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload (100/20 Mbps) through a wireline network or fixed wireless network using licensed spectrum.
• Unserved: A household or business location that lacks access to a broadband connection that reliably offers at least 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) through a wireline network or fixed wireless network using licensed spectrum.
• Underserved: A household or business location that has access to a broadband connection that reliably offers at least 25/3 Mbps (download/upload) but less than 100/20 Mbps through a wireline network or fixed wireless network using licensed spectrum.
In addition, community institutions lacking a reliable data rate of 1 Gbps symmetrical are eligible.
The NOFO further notes that eligible service areas include those where at least 80% of the locations within the Proposed Project Area (PPA) are unserved and/or underserved. Served locations may only be included if they are incidental in the attempt to target the unserved and/or underserved locations and therefore cannot be avoided (e.g., a wireline network has to bypass such units to reach the unserved and underserved location; a wireless network covers the served locations because the signal permeates to such locations).
The County seeks input for the following situations.
• Currently Served: Existing service providers that can provide evidence that locations in the Proposed Project Area are currently served.
• Enforceable Federal or State Commitments: Awardees and beneficiaries from another federal or state funding program that plan to deploy a broadband network and make commercial services available within a reasonable period from the NOFO issuance date
• Planned Deployment: Entities that have made substantiated progress in launching a network within 12 months of the NOFO date (April 8, 2025). This includes the demonstration of: a) a comprehensive business and technical plan; b) funding secured; c) a detailed budget; and d) a detailed project plan that supports the launch of commercial services within 12 months.
The County requires compelling evidence regarding locations currently served, or may soon be served with planned infrastructure deployment. The tables below list various forms of evidence. The final determination regarding the merits of a challenge will be based on a comprehensive and detailed showing of this evidence.
State of Broadband |
Evidence Types |
|---|---|
Existing Service |
• Approximate number of locations in the PPA(s) being challenged
• Detailed route map (for fiber) and propagation maps (for fixed wireless)
• Date service first offered that would meet the aforementioned definition of “served” – i.e., 100/20 Mbps
• List of all service offerings for homes, businesses, and community institutions (speeds, latency, pricing)
• Percentage of challenged locations that can receive the highest marketed speeds through wireline and/or licensed fixed wireless
• Ability to currently provide 1 Gbps (symmetrical) to CAI’s in PPAs
• Technical evidence that can prove ability to offer: a) 100/20 Mbps; b) the highest purported speeds for homes, businesses, and community institutions
• Marketing materials
• Network level speed test data
• Reasons why the FCC Data Map does not reflect your existing locations to be served
|
Planned Service |
• Approximate number of locations in the PPA(s) being challenged due to planned deployment
• Detailed wireline route maps or wireless coverage maps
• List of all planned service offerings for homes, businesses, and community institutions (speeds, latency, pricing)
• Percentage of units, under challenge, that will be passed by wireline, or covered by fixed wireless, within 12 months of the NOFO publication date (April 8, 2025) and can receive 100/20 Mbps
• Technical evidence that can prove ability to offer: a) 100/20 Mbps; b) the highest purported speeds for homes, businesses, and community institutions
• Forecasted ability to currently provide 1 Gbps (symmetrical) to CAI’s in PPAs
• Detailed budget and project plan
• Evidence of procurement to services and goods (e.g., materials, equipment)
• Other supporting data*
|
Enforceable Commitment |
• Name of local, state or federal program
• Approximate number of locations in the PPA(s) being challenged
• List of all existing and planned service offerings (speeds, latency, pricing)
• Performance obligations from the relevant grant funding program (speed, latency)
• Network type obligation from the relevant grant funding program (e.g., fiber, licensed fixed wireless, etc.)
• Percentage of units (under challenge) that are currently passed by wireline, or covered by fixed wireless, that can receive 100/20 Mbps
• Percentage of units, under challenge, that will be passed by wireline, or covered by fixed wireless, within 12 months of the NOFO publication date (April 8, 2025) and will be able to receive 100/20 Mbps
• Detailed route map
• Detailed budget and project plan
• Narrative regarding adhere to the federal or state grant’s program’s timeline requirements.
• Technical evidence that can prove ability to offer: a) 100/20 Mbps; b) the highest purported speeds for homes, businesses, and community institutions
• Forecasted ability to provide 1 Gbps (symmetrical) to CAI’s in PPAs
• Evidence of procurement to services and goods (e.g., materials, equipment)
|
Stakeholders must provide the following information:
• Location Data: These may include unique identifiers for each broadband serviceable location or street-level addresses being challenged.
- Note: Such granularity is required for several reasons, including: a) many served locations are adjacent to unserved or underserved locations; b) an inability for closely concentrated locations to uniformly receive reliable fixed wireless due to various barriers (e.g., terrain, physical obstructions, etc.); c) fiber traverses through communities but the laterals and drops to reach particular locations are prohibitively expensive.
• Electronic Maps: Provide shapefiles of the areas deemed served.
Please adhere to the following guidelines.
• Deadline: Stakeholders have until October 14th (5:00 pm PT) to provide feedback.
• Email: Submit feedback to hoguej@yamhillcounty.gov
- Please send a separate email for each particular challenge of a given application.
- Note the following in the email header: Applicant Name, Project Name, Challenging Entity Name.
We look forward to your feedback. Thank you for your attention to this matter.