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GAO-23-106824 1 (2023-08-24)

handle is hein.gao/gaopcd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 August 24, 2023 The Honorable Maria Cantwell Chair The Honorable Ted Cruz Ranking Member Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation United States Senate The Honorable Cathy McMorris Rodgers Chair The Honorable Frank Pallone, Jr. Ranking Member Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program: Feedback Should Be Provided to Applicants Receiving Equitable Distribution Grants Tribal access to broadband internet lags behind the rest of the country. However, two recent appropriations totaling $3 billion for the new Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) provided the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) with an opportunity to help increase tribal access to broadband.1 In January 2023, we began our second review of TBCP in response to a provision in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (2021 Act).2 This act includes a provision for GAO to review, every six months until funds are expended, TBCP grants awarded during the prior six months.3 This report responds to the statutory deadline for the fourth report and provides timely information about an aspect of the program-feedback to applicants-related to the notice of funding opportunity issued on July 27, 2023. Meanwhile, we are continuing our review of NTIA's administration of TBCP, including reviewing the post-award process, additional topics related to NTIA's actions taken to distribute grants on an equitable basis, and the sustainability of projects. 'The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, appropriated $1 billion for TBCP. In November 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act appropriated an additional $2 billion. NTIA resides within the Department of Commerce. 2Pub. L. No. 116-260, div. N., tit. IX, § 905(f)(2), 134 Stat. 1182, 2144 (2020) (codified at 47 U.S.C. § 1705(f)(2)). 3This act also includes a provision for GAO to review, every six months until funds are expended, Broadband Infrastructure Program grants awarded during the prior six months. Pub. L. No. 116-260, § 905(f)(2), 134 Stat. at 2144. However, NTIA did not award any Broadband Infrastructure Program grants in the prior six months, so this report focuses on the TBCP. To meet the previous statutory deadlines, GAO held briefings or submitted a draft report that was later issued. See GAO, Broadband Funding: Stronger Management of Performance and Fraud Risk Needed for Tribal and Public-Private Partnership Grants, GAO-23-105426 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 24, 2023). This report covers the additional equitable distribution grants made since our last response in May 2023. GAO-23-106824 Tribal Broadband Funding Page 1

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