Louisiana Administrative Code
Title 4 - ADMINISTRATION
Part XXI - Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities
Chapter 4 - Scoring
Section XXI-405 - Factors Subject to Scoring

A. Applicant Experience. The office shall award points based upon the applicant's experience, technical ability, financial wherewithal in successfully deploying and providing broadband service, and the matching funds percentage of the total cost of the project. For experience, the office shall reference, by date of application submittal and without regard to the potential project, the number of years the applicant has provided internet services; the number of households to which the applicant currently provides broadband internet service access (at least 100:20 Mbps); the number of internet service infrastructure projects completed by the applicant, funded in part through federal or state grant programs, prior to the date of application submittal; penalties paid by the applicant, relative to internet service infrastructure projects funded in part through federal or state grant programs, prior to the date of application submittal; and whether the applicant, a subsidiary or affiliate of the applicant, or the holding company of the applicant has ever been a defendant in any federal or state criminal proceeding or civil litigation as a result of its participation in an internet service infrastructure project funded in part through federal or state grant programs, prior to the date of application submittal. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: If an applicant has not participated in an internet service infrastructure project funded, in part, through federal or state grant programs, the applicant shall not receive points in the "penalties paid" or "defendant in criminal or civil proceeding" scoring criteria.

B. Technical Ability. The office shall award points based upon the broadband transmission speeds (Mbps download and upload) that will be deployed as a result of the project. If more than one set of transmission speeds are offered to consumers, scoring shall be based on the fastest transmission speeds offered. The office shall award points based upon the scalability of the project's technology and infrastructure beyond the project's current maximum speed offering for future increases in bandwidth. Should a project include a mix of wireline and fixed wireless technology solutions, broadband speed and scalability criteria shall be scored based upon the technology that serves a majority of a project's prospective broadband recipients. The office shall reference the average distance, in miles, between prospective broadband recipients to be served by the project and shall award points to the five applications with the longest average distance between prospective broadband recipients. Points shall be awarded as follows.

C. Financial Wherewithal. The office shall reference both a project's total/infrastructure cost per prospective broadband recipient and GUMBO cost per prospective broadband recipient. A project's total/infrastructure cost per prospective broadband recipient shall be calculated by dividing a project's total/infrastructure cost by the total number of prospective broadband recipients to be served by the project. A project's GUMBO cost per prospective broadband recipient shall be calculated by dividing a project's GUMBO requested funding by the total number of prospective broadband recipients to be served by the project. In each criterion, the office shall award points to the 10 applications with the lowest costs per prospective broadband recipient. The office shall also reference the number of bankruptcies filed (prior to the date of application submission). Points shall be awarded as follows.

D. Matching Funds. The office shall calculate the provider's matching funds percentage of the total/infrastructure cost of the project and award points based on matching funds. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: An applicant will receive 1 point for each percentage point of matching funds provided, beyond the required 25 percent. Additionally, an applicant will receive 5 bonus points for each increment of 5 percentage points of matching funds provided, beyond the required 25 percent. Points are awarded based upon the total percentage of matching funds provided, beyond the required 25 percent, irrespective of the number of providers contributing to a single project.

E. Local Government Support. The office shall award points based upon letters of support from local governments. The office shall reference letters submitted by a parish, municipality, or school board, or any instrumentality thereof. Letters of support eligible for scoring shall be in the form of officially and duly passed resolutions by the governing board, consisting of publicly elected members, of the parish, municipality, or school board, or any instrumentality thereof. Such a resolution shall be submitted with the application prior to the close of the application period. Points shall be awarded as follows.

F. Estimated Number of Unserved Households. The office shall award points to projects based upon the estimated number of unserved households within the eligible economically distressed parish, as determined by the most recent data published by the Federal Communications Commission or the most reliable source of information available as of the close of the application period, as determined by the office. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: If a contiguous project area crosses from an eligible parish into one or more eligible adjacent parishes, the project shall be deemed to be located in the parish where the greatest number of unserved households are proposed to be served.

G. Percentage of Total Unserved Households Served. The office shall award points to projects that will provide broadband service based upon the percentage of the total unserved households within the eligible economically distressed parish that the project will newly and directly serve. Unserved households served as a result of other, nonGUMBO federal or state grant programs shall not be used in the calculation of this criterion. The number of unserved households shall be determined using the most recent data published by the Federal Communications Commission or the most reliable source of information available as of the close of the application period, as determined by the office. The Office shall also award points based upon the number of households newly and directly served, as a result of the project, with current service of less than 25:3 Mbps, as a percentage of the total number of households proposed to be served by the project. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: If a contiguous project area crosses from an eligible parish into one or more eligible adjacent parishes, the project shall be deemed to be located in the parish where the greatest number of unserved households are proposed to be served.

H. Unserved Businesses Served. The office shall award points to projects that will provide broadband service to unserved businesses newly and directly served by the project located within the eligible economically distressed parish, as determined by the most recent data published by the Federal Communications Commission or the most reliable source of information available as of the close of the application period, as determined by the office. Unserved businesses served as a result of other, non-GUMBO federal or state grant programs shall not be used in the calculation of this criterion. A residential-based business shall be classified by the applicant as either a residence or a business and shall not be counted as both. Points shall be awarded as follows.

I. Leverage of Existing Infrastructure. The office shall award points based upon the applicant's ability to leverage its own or nearby or adjacent broadband service infrastructure in the proposed project area. For reference, the office will refer to the percentage of total mileage of project infrastructure composed of preexisting infrastructure. The office will also refer to the project's proposed estimated construction timeline, as measured from the award of the grant agreement, and award points in the following categories: construction start date and construction completion date. Construction completion date scoring will utilize two separate scoring criteria, one for wireline and one for fixed wireless. Should a project include a mix of wireline and fixed wireless technology solutions, the project completion date criterion shall be scored based upon the technology that serves a majority of a project's prospective broadband recipients. Points shall be awarded as follows.

J. Consumer Price. The office shall award points based upon the ultimate price of broadband service to the consumer as a result of the proposed project and shall reference the average price of all broadband service packages offering transmission speeds that meet or exceed 100:20 Mbps offered to consumers by an applicant as the result of the proposed project. The office shall award points to the 10 applications with the lowest average price of all broadband service packages offering transmission speeds that meet or exceed 100:20 Mbps offered to consumers by an applicant as a result of the proposed project. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: An applicant that has offered broadband service to at least 1,000 consumers for a period of at least 5 consecutive years is required to offer broadband service at prices that are, at least, consistent with offers to consumers in other areas of the state.

K. Local Government In-Kind Contributions and Matching Funds. The office shall award points to projects receiving in-kind contributions or matching funds from a local government for eligible projects within the jurisdictional area of the local government. A local government is defined as a parish, municipality, or school board, or any instrumentality thereof. Each local government has the option to provide in-kind contributions or matching funds to a project, and more than one local government can provide in-kind contributions or matching funds to any one project. Points shall be awarded as follows.

NOTE: An applicant will receive 1 point for each percentage point of the total/infrastructure cost of a project provided by local government through in-kind contributions or matching funds. Additionally, an applicant will receive 5 bonus points for each increment of 5 percentage points of the total/infrastructure cost of a project provided by local government through in-kind contributions or matching funds. Points are awarded based upon the total percentage of in-kind contributions and matching funds provided by local governments, irrespective of the number of local governments contributing to the project.

L. Small Business Entrepreneurship. The office shall award points to projects in which the eligible grant recipient is a small business entrepreneurship certified by the Hudson Initiative (R.S. 39:2001 et seq.) or the Veteran Initiative (R.S. 39:2171 et seq.). Points shall be awarded as follows.

M. Small Business Entrepreneurship Subcontracting. The office shall award points to projects in which the eligible grant recipient commits to a good faith subcontracting plan to contract with or employ a small business entrepreneurship certified by the Hudson Initiative (R.S. 39:2001 et seq.) or the Veteran Initiative (R.S. 39:2171 et seq.) to substantially participate in the performance of the project. Points shall be awarded as follows.

N. Summary of Scored Sections. As set forth in this Section, the scored categories of GUMBO program applications or project areas shall be as follows, repeated for comprehensive clarity.