Seven planned gatherings of federal broadband grant recipients have been cancelled, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The agency manages several ongoing broadband grant programs totalling billions of dollars, including the Middle Mile program, Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, multiple digital equity programs, and others. Funded during the Biden administration, many infrastructure projects funded by these programs are already underway.
The workshops were intended to help grant recipients navigate the administrative process and ensure builds were successful. One had been scheduled to take place in Atlanta from Feb. 13-Feb 14.
They include info on what was supposed to happen at the meetings…
From a registration form that was still online Friday: “These workshops are intended to provide an opportunity for NTIA’s grantees to network with each other and for NTIA to deliver guidance on grants management. The content will vary by location but will mostly focus on reporting requirements, auditing, evaluation and measurement, communications strategies, waste, fraud, and abuse and more.”
The Office of Broadband Development mentioned the cancellation of the meeting in the Broadband Task Force meeting last week.