RS 51:2370.3

§2370.3. Ineligibility due to funds; submission of census block, shape file area, and address data; time limitations; mapping A. A provider that has been fully authorized to receive Universal Service, Connect America Phase II, Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, or other public funds to deploy broadband service using wireline technology may qualify the area for protection by submitting, within sixty days of the close of the application period, a listing of the census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof, comprising the publicly funded project areas meeting this requirement to the office. Any location or area of the state, subject to a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund award, in which the provider receiving the award has proposed to provide broadband internet access service through a technology other than a wireline technology, may be eligible for the GUMBO grant program. B.(1) A provider with firm plans to privately fund broadband deployment within twenty months may qualify the area for protection by submitting to the office, within thirty days of the close of the application period, a listing of the census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof, comprising the privately funded project areas meeting this requirement. A provider seeking to qualify the area for protection pursuant to this Subsection shall also provide the office with evidence of plans to deploy within twenty months, which shall include detailed project plans, schedules, detailed budgets, or executive affidavits. Providers that block competitive bidding for GUMBO funding through credible evidence of intent to build shall be required to sign a commitment with penalties for failure to execute. The office may, at its discretion, grant an extension of the twenty-month period provided in this Paragraph. (2) A provider seeking to privately fund broadband deployment in accordance with this Subsection shall construct and provide deployable broadband service within the twenty-month period to at least eighty percent of the designated locations; however, the office may, at its discretion, grant an extension to this twenty-month period. (3)(a) The office shall require any provider seeking to privately fund broadband deployment in accordance with this Subsection to furnish a bond to guarantee the faithful performance of work. (b) The performance bond required by this Paragraph shall be in an amount equal to the cost of construction and deployment. (4) If a provider fails to perform as required by this Subsection and the performance bond is due, the provider shall be ineligible for any state-administered federal grant program designated for broadband development services. C.(1) A local governing authority may submit in writing to the office an objection to any provider that seeks to bid to deploy broadband services in the local governing authority's area if the provider has received a letter grade rating of "D" or "F" from the Better Business Bureau. (2) At the request of the local governing authority that submits an objection in accordance with this Subsection, a provider shall be ineligible to bid to deploy broadband services. D. In future program years, the deadline for submitting the census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof shall be established by the office but shall not be less than sixty days prior to the beginning date of the application period. This will enable the office to update maps and advise applicants as to the unserved areas of the state that are ineligible for consideration in that program year. E. The office shall only utilize the data to update maps of census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof and to reflect the census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof as being served. F. In no instance shall an applicant be required to provide any data beyond that which it is required to provide to the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 641 et seq. G. Failure on the part of a provider to submit the listing of census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof by the deadline shall result in those areas being ineligible for exclusion under the GUMBO program during the upcoming program year. A provider using wireline technology that has facilities in the area or that intends to deploy broadband service within twenty-four months, as a result of receiving public funds specifically for broadband deployment or upon providing the office with evidence of firm plans to privately fund deployment, shall be able to protest ineligibility. H. The office shall use the provided census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof only for mapping of unserved areas. I. Upon expiration of the twenty-four month reservation period described in Subsection G of this Section, a provider that has received a reservation of census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof shall submit written documentation by April thirtieth of the year following the program year that the initiation of activity related to broadband infrastructure will or has begun in the census blocks, shapefile areas, individual addresses, or portions thereof, that have been deemed ineligible by the office due to the existence of a federally funded project area. J.(1) The office shall secure information from any entity, public or private, providing internet service to at least one location in this state to assist the office in compiling a statewide parish-by-parish broadband map identifying the locations and capability of broadband service in this state. At the request of the office, any such entity shall submit to the office, on or before fifteen days following the expiration of the date required for submission of broadband deployment information to the federal government, any such broadband deployment information. The information provided to the office shall contain the same information and be provided in the same format as the information that was submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, in a manner specified by the office. In no instance shall an entity be required to provide any data beyond that which it is required to provide to the Federal Communications Commission. (2) Any entity, public or private, providing internet service to at least one location in this state, that does not comply with the requirements of this Section or that submits inaccurate information, may be ineligible to participate in, or receive any funding from, any state-administered grant program designated for broadband infrastructure deployment in this state in the calendar year of noncompliance and the following calendar year. (3) Any location in this state purportedly served by any entity, public or private, providing internet service to at least one location in this state, that does not comply with the requirements of this Section may be considered to have internet access service of less than one hundred megabits per second for download and twenty megabits per second for upload. (4) Any broadband availability data provided in accordance with this Section shall be used solely for the purpose of identifying served, underserved, and unserved areas to aid in the administration of the GUMBO program and for no additional purpose. (5) Any entity submitting broadband data to the office as required by this Section may review the proposed draft of the state broadband map and submit any necessary corrective data to the office prior to the publication or utilization of the state broadband map for any state-administered grant program designated for broadband infrastructure deployment in this state. (6) Any entity submitting broadband data to the office as required by this Section may challenge any area ultimately deemed eligible for any state-administered grant program designated for broadband infrastructure deployment in this state that overlaps with an entity's verified service territory. K.(1) The office may contract with a private entity or third-party consultant to develop and maintain the state broadband map. Any contract entered into by the office and a private entity or third-party consultant for the purpose of developing and maintaining the state broadband map shall include a confidentiality agreement prohibiting the disclosure of any broadband data provided in accordance with this Section. (2) Information compiled pursuant to the provisions of Subsection J of this Section shall be exempt from the Public Records Law and shall be considered confidential, proprietary, and a trade secret of the internet service provider providing the information. The office, including any private entity or third-party consultant retained or employed pursuant to this Section, shall keep strictly confidential and shall not disclose, or cause or permit to be disclosed, to any third person, private entity, or public body as defined in R.S. 44:1, any broadband availability data provided in accordance with Subsection J of this Section. The office, including any private entity or third-party consultant retained or employed pursuant to this Section, shall take all actions reasonably necessary to ensure that the broadband availability data remains strictly confidential and is not disclosed to or seen, used, or obtained by any third person, private entity, or public body as defined in R.S. 44:1. (3) The requirements of this Section shall terminate under any one of the following conditions, whichever occurs first: (a) A determination by the office that it is no longer necessary to compile a statewide parish-by-parish broadband map identifying the locations and capability of broadband service in this state. (b) At midnight on December 31, 2026. (4) The office may promulgate rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this Section in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Acts 2021, No. 477, §1, eff. July 1, 2021; Acts 2022, No. 288, §2; Acts 2023, No. 383, §3A.