Sec. 7. (a) Subject to:

(1) subsection (b); and

(2) section 8 of this chapter;

the office shall establish procedures for awarding grants from the fund to qualified broadband providers for qualified broadband project expenses incurred in connection with qualified broadband projects.

(b) In awarding grants under this chapter, the office shall establish the following priorities:

(1) First, extending the deployment of qualified broadband service to areas in which:

(A) Internet connections are unavailable; or

(B) the only available Internet connections provide capacity for transmission at an actual speed of less than ten (10) megabits per second downstream.

(2) Second, extending the deployment of high speed Internet service to areas in which the only available Internet connections provide capacity for transmission at an actual speed of:

(A) not less than ten (10) megabits; and

(B) not more than twenty-five (25) megabits;

per second downstream.

(c) Subject to section 11 of this chapter, the office shall publish on the office's Internet web site all grant applications received by the office under this chapter. For each grant application received, the office shall establish a period of at least thirty (30) days from the date the application is published on the office's Internet web site under this subsection, during which time the office will accept comments or objections concerning the application. The office shall consider all comments or objections received under this subsection in making a determination as to whether to award a grant to an applicant under this chapter.

As added by P.L.177-2018, SEC.5. Amended by P.L.215-2018(ss), SEC.1; P.L.189-2019, SEC.4.