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 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 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 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 – Application due November – 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!