La. Admin. Code tit. 4 § XXI-311

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 8, August 20, 2024

Section XXI-311 - Technical Report

A. Applicants must provide a narrative, technical report detailing the technology/technologies to be used in the proposed project to serve prospective broadband recipients at their premises. Applicants must indicate the technology that will serve a prospective broadband recipient as wired infrastructure or fixed wireless and provide aggregated totals for each solution for each project.

B. Reporting requirements for all deployments:

1. technical detail of the technology/technologies to be used in the proposed project and the broadband transmission speeds offered to prospective broadband recipients as a result of the project. If it would be impracticable, because of geography, topography, or excessive cost to design a broadband infrastructure project that would deliver 100:100 Mbps, the applicant must provide an explanation. Transmission speeds of 100:20 Mbps are the minimum allowable under this grant program;

2. if the applicant is claiming points for partnerships, the applicant must provide a brief narrative explaining how the partnership or affiliation will facilitate deployment and reduce cost per prospective broadband recipient. For applications or project areas where the nonprofit or not-for-profit partner provides only matching financial support, that information can be documented in the budget section within the relevant application or project area. The applicant must also provide evidence of a formalized agreement, when applicable, as required in §307 of this Part;

3. if the applicant is claiming a partnership, the applicant must provide a brief narrative explaining the partnership or affiliation. For applications where a nonprofit or not-for-profit partner provides only matching financial support, that information can be documented in the budget Section within the relevant application. The applicant must also provide evidence of a formalized agreement, when applicable, as required in §307 of this Part;

4. a proposed construction timeline and duration of the deployment project period. The deployment project period is the time from award of the grant agreement to the time that service is available to the targeted prospective broadband recipients under the grant. The applicant shall describe deployment roll-out and include the number of endusers to be served in each phase, as well as an estimated timeline for each phase (10 percent, 35 percent, 60 percent, 85 percent, 100 percent). As it relates to the disbursement of grant funding, project completion shall be defined as a percentage of the total number of prospective broadband recipients proposed to be served by the project;

5. the average distance, in miles, between prospective broadband recipients to be served by the project; and

6. a business continuity and disaster recovery plan.

C. Reporting requirements for wired infrastructure deployment:

1. description of the general design of the project and deployment plan;

2. explanation of existing networks and equipment to be used for the project, if applicable;

a. if the applicant requires assets owned by another entity, the applicant should explain how the assets will be used for this project and, if applicable, provide a copy of the agreement between the applicant and the owner;

b. the total number of miles of project infrastructure deployment, and the number of miles of project infrastructure deployment accounted for by preexisting infrastructure;

3. detailed explanation of how the new or upgraded infrastructure will serve the prospective broadband recipients. In the case of the installation or upgrade of a specific site infrastructure, such as a point of presence or fiber hut (fiber), the applicant must include:

a. number of prospective broadband recipients that will be served by that site infrastructure, including businesses; and

b. the distance from the specific site infrastructure to the end user(s) and the expected broadband speed that will be effectively and reliably delivered;

4. detailed description of the design work needed for deployment, such as, but not limited to, pole work, acquiring or updating easements, and/or property acquisition.

D. Reporting requirements for fixed wireless deployment:

1. description of the general design of this project and deployment plan;

2. explanation of existing networks and equipment to be used for this project, if applicable;

a. If the applicant requires assets owned by another entity, the applicant should explain how the assets will be used for this project and, if applicable, provide a copy of the agreement between the applicant and the owner; and

b. the number of towers or vertical assets to be used for the project, the height (in feet) of each tower or vertical asset, and whether each tower or vertical asset is existing or will be constructed. For scoring purposes, tower or vertical asset height will be converted to miles through the following equation: 1 foot of tower or vertical asset height = 1/20 mile.

a. description and specific location of the vertical asset;

b. owner of the vertical asset;

c. number of prospective broadband recipients that will be served by that site infrastructure, including businesses;

d. the distance from the vertical asset to the end user(s) and the expected broadband speed that will be effectively and reliably delivered;

4. detailed description of the design work needed for deployment, such as, but not limited to, acquiring access to existing vertical assets, acquiring or updating easements, and/or property acquisition;

5. description and specific type of the equipment used for deployment and the capable speed of the equipment;

6. explanation of the frequency/frequencies to be utilized for the deployment, whether the deployment will use licensed or unlicensed frequency/frequencies and technologies, as well as mitigation of line-of-sight challenges (which should correspond to the number of recipients to be served).

La. Admin. Code tit. 4, § XXI-311

Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, LR 47, Amended LR 47, Amended LR 481508 (6/1/2022), Amended LR 48, Amended LR 49

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 51:2370-2370.16.