General Resources

These resources provide the necessary information to successfully manage the administrative and programmatic requirements throughout the life cycle of a BTOP grant. The documents and links provided include introductory grant information, community outreach resources, and other relevant materials.

NOTE: For American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) guidance and Department of Commerce grants policy, go to the Compliance section of this site.

Fact Sheets

Below is a comprehensive list of all post-award recipient fact sheets.
Click here for a zip file of all fact sheets.

Recipient Handbook and Welcome Packet

Each recipient must comply with various requirements over the life of the project, from accepting the award through project completion and award closeout. These documents contain initial award information and serve as reference guides for general questions and information about the grant completion process.

Round 1 Recipient Welcome Packet (Public Computer Center and Sustainable Broadband Adoption Recipients).

Round 1 Recipient Welcome Packet (Infrastructure Recipients).

Community Outreach Resources

NTIA encourages recipients to implement community outreach activities and build relationships with local residents, community anchor institutions, businesses, schools, public safety agencies, and healthcare providers. The following toolkit provides ideas and tools for implementing outreach activities that can fit project goals, reach stakeholders, and deliver key messages.

Signage and Logo Guidance

Recovery Logo
Primary Emblem

Projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) can use the Recovery Act emblem. This emblem is a symbol of President Obama’s commitment to invest tax dollars wisely to put Americans back to work.

All Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) grantees from all funding rounds are required to use the Recovery Act emblem in display signage on construction sites. The July 2009 and January 2010 BTOP Notices of Funds Availability state the following requirement:

All projects that are funded by the Recovery Act shall display signage that features the Primary Emblem throughout the construction phase. The signage should be displayed in a prominent location on site. Some exclusions may apply. The Primary Emblem should not be displayed at a size less than six inches in diameter.

Grantees may satisfy the signage requirements above by using the Primary or BroadbandUSA Emblems shown here and following all guidelines for size, clear space, and color. Complete signage and graphics guidelines are provided below along with camera-ready, high-resolution emblem artwork TIF, JPEG and EPS formats.

Graphics for Recovery Act and BroadbandUSA emblems.

Logo Files: Primary Emblem:
Logo Files: BroadbandUSA Emblem:

Conflicts of Interest

Over the course of the application process and post-award project completion process, conflicts of interest may arise. This document identifies potential conflicts and offers suggestions on ways to mitigate any potential issues.

  • Federal Assistance Law Division: It’s the Law, Volume 11, Conflicts of Interest

Subrecipients and Contractors

Each recipient may work with subrecipients, contractors, and vendors for assistance throughout the course of the awarded projects. The following documents provide guidance on role determination and the associated requirements.

Tax Guidance

On September 23, 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued new revenue procedure that applies to for-profit BTOP CCI/Infrastructure award recipients. The following documents provide more information on the guidance:

700 MHz Public Safety Program

  • 700 MHz Low Risk Project Fact Sheet (May 2012) - Overview of public safety 700 MHz project investments that are likely to be at a lower risk of being incompatible with the ultimate nationwide network.
  • BTOP Public Safety Broadband Fact Sheet (May 2012) - Frequently Asked Questions for conforming existing state and local 700 MHz public safety projects with the nationwide public safety network.
  • 700 MHz Public Safety Projects FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions for completing negotiations with the First Responder Network Authority for use of its 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum.