As used in this subpart:

Agency or RUS shall mean the Rural Utilities Service, which administers the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Utilities Programs.

Broadband Grant Speed means the minimum bandwidth described in the funding opportunity that an applicant must propose to deliver to every customer in the proposed funded service area in order for the Agency to approve a broadband grant. The Broadband Grant Speed may be different for fixed and mobile broadband services and from the minimum rate of data transmission required to determine the availability of broadband service when qualifying a service area.

Broadband service means any terrestrial technology having the capacity to provide transmission facilities that enable subscribers of the service to originate and receive high-quality voice, data, graphics, and video at the minimum rate of data transmission described in the funding opportunity. Satellite and mobile services are not considered broadband service. The broadband service speed may be different from the broadband grant speed for the Community Connect program.

Community Center means a building within the Proposed Funded Service Area that provides access to the public, or a section of a public building with at least two (2) Computer Access Points and wireless access, that is used for the purposes of providing free access to and/or instruction in the use of broadband Internet service, and is of the appropriate size to accommodate this purpose. The community center must be open and accessible to area residents before, during, and after normal working hours and on Saturdays or Sunday.

Computer Access Point means a new computer terminal with access to service at the Broadband Grant Speed.

Critical Community Facilities means an essential community facility as defined pursuant to section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)).

Eligible applicant shall have the meaning as set forth in §1739.10.

Eligible grant purposes shall have the meaning as set forth in §1739.12.

Funding opportunity announcement (FOA) means a publicly available document by which a Federal agency makes know its intentions to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually as a result of competition for funds. FOA announcements may be known as program announcements, notices of funding availability, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program. FOA announcements can be found at www.Grants.gov in the Search Grants tab and on the funding agency's or program's website.

Matching contribution means the applicant's qualified contribution to the Project, as outlined in §1739.14 of this part.

Project means the delivery of service at the Broadband Grant Speed financed by the grant and Matching Contribution for the Proposed Funded Service Area.

Proposed Funded Service Area (PFSA) means the contiguous geographic area within an eligible Rural Area or eligible Rural Areas, in which the applicant proposes to provide service at the Broadband Grant Speed.

Rural area means any area, as confirmed by the most recent decennial Census of the United States (decennial Census), which is not located within:

(1) A city, town, or incorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants; or

(2) An urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 inhabitants. For purposes of the definition of rural area, an urbanized area means a densely populated territory as defined in the most recent decennial Census.

[78 FR 25791, June 3, 2013, as amended at 80 FR 9862, Feb. 24, 2015; 83 FR 45033, Sept. 5, 2018; 85 FR 14408, Mar. 12, 2020]