adventures in preparing a winning btop proposal or…
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Adventures in preparing a winning BTOP proposal or…. Mark Johnson SURA IT Committee March 10 , 2010. Apologies to Stanly Kubrick et al for the references contained in this presentation. NTIA. MCNC’s BTOP Application Round 1. $28.2M request, $11.7M match, No State Funds - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Adventures in preparing a winning BTOP proposal or….
Mark Johnson
SURA IT CommitteeMarch 10, 2010
Apologies to Stanly Kubrick et al for the references contained in this presentation
NTIA
MCNC’s BTOP Application Round 1• $28.2M request, $11.7M match, No State
Funds• Private partner put up equal match to MCNC • 37 Counties – 24 fully or partially underserved
– Private partner serves commercial customers• 480 miles of new fiber construction, an
Eastern ring and a Western ring• Round 1 Results: WE WON!!!!!!!!!
Why did we win?
• Can’t say for sure but…– BTOP aligned nicely with existing plans– We were able to show strong support from all
stakeholders– Our mantra was “Make NTIA’s job easy”: We
were maniacal about adhering to NOFA and application requirements
Challenges• We wanted a private partner from day 1• We wanted to meet matching requirements with
cash– In-kind rules made that seem risky– $4M available from MCNC endowment– Wanted (and received) equal match from partner(s)
• Wanted to submit to BTOP but could not rule out BIP
• Identifying un/underserved areas would be tricky– Public broadband mapping data inadequate
BTOP Timeline• Pre-2007 – close relationship with Lt Gov on
K12 connectivity initiative• 2007: Committed to goal of acquiring dark
fiber to all PoPs• Summer 2008 - Board commitment to
overhaul NCREN (matching?)– New design– New core routers– Completion of optical core
BTOP Timeline [2]• Fall 2008
– New strategic plan • All fiber backbone in 5 years
– SP partnership opportunity identified• Former Lt Gov Perdue elected Governor• December 2008 - Stimulus white paper in
circulation [a key in obtaining stakeholder support]
BTOP Timeline [3]• March 2009 – Solicit service provider
partnerships– Needed SP support– Definitely DID NOT want SP opposition
• July 2009 – NOFA released• July 2009 – BTOP/BIP application released• August 20 2009 – Application due• November 12 2009 – Due Diligence begins
All Hands on Deck
Developing the application
Application Development• All hands on deck• Everything in Confluence• Owners and reviewers assigned for every
question• Outside legal counsel engaged• Team assigned to mechanics of
application early on– “I have the pen”
Anyone heard of GIS?
Mapping…Joint Techs to the rescue
Google Earth Pro can read shape files
Very interesting
Key Elements/Ingredients/Inputs of MCNC BTOP Mapping
• Google Earth Pro• Enlisted assistance of e-NC Authority and
Broadband Consulting Group (BBCGI)– Un-served/Underserved Determination– Rural vs. Non-rural Determination
• Exported our Fiber Routes from (true) GIS software to KMZ files
• Creativity
Proposed Funded Service Area
NC Brownfields
NC Wetlands
2:17:24 AM
Dear NTIA, WTF
• Discovered all sorts of things about the online application as we approached the deadline– Page limits are really character limits– Mapping not working as advertised– Undocumented (or maybe just very poorly
documented) features– App won’t complete upload – uh oh!
Thank You!http://www.mcnc.org/btop