9-12-1505. Funding determinations.

(a) In evaluating applications and providing funding under this article, the council shall give highest priority to applications which the council determines are public private partnerships.

(b) In evaluating applications and entering into agreements to provide funding, the council shall give priority to applications that meet one (1) or more of the following criteria, with additional priority given for meeting multiple criteria:

(i) Offer new or substantially upgraded broadband service to important community institutions and businesses;

(ii) Serve economically distressed areas of the state, as measured by indices of unemployment, poverty or population loss that are significantly greater than the statewide average;

(iii) Include a component to actively promote the adoption of the newly available broadband services in the community;

(iv) Provide evidence of strong support for the project from citizens, government, businesses and institutions in the community;

(v) Provide access to broadband service to a greater number of unserved households and businesses;

(vi) Provide comparability to service offered in urban areas, both in speed and pricing by reference to standards published by the Federal Communications Commission;

(vii) Provide access to very high speed broadband service to business districts or other business areas and are likely to secure economic benefits for the surrounding locality; or

(viii) Leverage greater amounts of funding for the project from other private and public sources.

(c) The council shall endeavor to award grants under this section to qualified applicants in geographically diverse regions of the state.