Section 484.3255 - Competitive grant process; criteria; priorities(1) An award of funds must be issued by a competitive grant process. The grant process must be technology neutral, and result in awards to applicants proposing projects based on objective and efficient procedures. The criteria for determining the award of funds must include the following: (a) The applicant's experience and financial wherewithal.(b) The readiness to build, operate, and maintain the project.(c) The long-term viability of the project.(d) The scalability of the network.(e) The applicant's ability to leverage broadband for community and economic development.(f) The applicant's ability to provide discounted broadband service throughout the unserved area to low-income households.(2) Priority must be given to projects that demonstrate collaboration to achieve community investment and economic development goals of the area impacted, and that are able to demonstrate that they have the managerial, financial, and technical ability to build, operate, and manage a broadband network.Added by 2020, Act 224,s 5, eff. 10/16/2020.