Community Wi-Fi Grant Program

Applicants can contact CEN at CENwifigrant@cteducation.net for assistance.  You can also attend one of our six "office hours" blocks available from 2/4/2025 to 3/11/2025 on the program website: https://ctedunet.net/cwifi.

Demonstrating a community is unserved, economically disadvantaged or a community in-need is largely up to the applicant.  There is not a specific definition of what qualifies as underserved, economically disadvantaged or in-need since this can look different in each community.  Proposals are asked to provide a project narrative, supporting data and conclusions drawn that demonstrate why the referenced project area(s) or community was considered underserved, economically disadvantaged or in-need.

Examples of data points that may help demonstrate community needs are listed below:

• Supporting population data that the project area(s) is part of an underserved, typically economically disadvantaged group or community of color
• Anticipated regional impact, including but not limited to whether the project is coordinated with or builds upon other nearby projects and addresses a region of the state with high need but relatively few funded projects
• Supporting data on the socio-economic status of the project area(s)
• Number of disconnected users
• Subscription rates in served areas
• The number of households without access to reliable, high-speed internet service
• Number of students without adequate internet access for remote learning
• Describe the affordability of existing internet service options
• Current availability of public Wi-Fi access points in the project area(s)
• Implement a community engagement strategy and communication
• Target services to communities with the greatest need
• Address language barriers
• Provide digital literacy training
• Are there devices available for public use
• Devices to loan to the public

How to locate and cite valuable substantiating data

Valuable data sources that can be used to help demonstrate a community is unserved, economically disadvantaged or a community in-need, or to help measure project effectiveness and impact are listed below.  Please note, this is not an exhaustive list.

• ACS
• NTIA Indicators of Broadband Need
• Microsoft Digital Equity Maps
• Connecticut’s Digital Equity Program’s Broadband Mapping Tool
• Office of Policy and Management (OPM) Broadband Availability Map: Availability data shows unserved and underserved locations in Connecticut (for purposes of this program, underserved locations include those labeled unserved) based on OPM data collection process, which started in March of 2022, with the cooperation of internet service providers in the state.
• Survey Data: Involve direct input from end-users regarding their broadband service's speeds, technologies, and other performance features. CEN encourages applicants to provide survey-based data, especially if the maps may potentially label an area as “served” when, in fact, part of the project area is underserved.
• Speed Test Data: Speed test data is helpful to support other data sets. Speeds are influenced by several factors, some of which do not reflect the available network type and capacity (e.g., subscribed level of service).
• Distressed Municipalities: Updated annually, the distressed municipalities' lists identify the state’s most fiscally and economically distressed municipalities and are used by state agencies to target funds for needs which may include housing, insurance, open space, brownfield remediation, and economic development programs, among others.
• Content Filtering Capabilities
• Security Requirements – Secure Wi-Fi vs Guest

How to locate and cite subscription rates for a project area via the Connecticut Digital Equity’s online broadband mapping tool

Applicants can visit the Connecticut Digital Equity’s online broadband mapping tool website at https://broadbandmaps.ct.gov/ and use the interactive map to explore subscription rates by entering a specific address or area. 

The map allows users to view data on broadband availability, technology types, and subscription rates across different regions. This can help applicants identify gaps in broadband adoption.  This data can be utilized to support applicant proposals by highlighting areas with lower subscription rates, thereby illustrating a strong need for improved broadband access in the community.

These grant funds are bound to the state of CT, so they must be used statewide, but they can be used in rural and urban settings, so long as the application demonstrates how it will meet the needs of an underserved community.

Grant funds can only be used for projects that would expand coverage, and can't be used on expenses that would be considered operational expenses.  For example, if an institution were to upgrade current internet speeds, expenses that go into hardware to make those upgrades possible could be paid for with grant dollars, but not the cost of operating those speeds as regular recurring costs.

For entities who already have CEN and eduroam connectivity, you can use funds from this grant to expand coverage to additional buildings / locations within your area, as long as you demonstrate how they would expand coverage and reach specifically underserved communities.

CIPA compliance is not mandatory for this grant program.

Matching funds (or giving in-kind contributions) is not a requirement, though it is encouraged and is given preference during the application scoring process. If an agency will be pouring a lot of resources into executing a project, these can be considered in-kind contributions so long as they are very clearly articulated and quantified in the program budget (i.e. anticipated hours required to install equipment).

Stacking grants or braiding of funds (using this grant on top of another grant) is possible, however in the application, you need to be clear and articulate what the grant funds are covering. Ensure to discuss how these funds are additive, and that no dependencies exist between the two (i.e. the projects can stand on their own if only one is funded).

There is no minimum or maximum for the amount of funding you can request, but again, be clear in your explanation of how these funds will be used in your application.

Anyone can be a host site for eduroam, they do not need to be a school. However, eduroam does not need to be the only SSID, and there are no limitations on SSIDs that may be used.

For entities that will offer eduroam, posting signage is encouraged but is not required.

For additional information, the Program Guidance outlines a bit about eduroam, and more information is available online at https://ctedunet.net/eduroam/ or https://eduroam.org/.

The "ideal partnership and target project area" aims to partner and establish projects across CAIs, libraries, school districts and universities in a municipal area. This is a strong approach that helps pool resources across different kinds of partners.  However, applications can be more ambitious and get creative so long as their proposals demonstrate how they can get it done.

In terms of supplanting vs supplementing... supplanting refers more to replacing state, local or tribal funds with federal funds. Supplementing refers more to adding federal funds to state, local or tribal funds for a program or service. The Department of Justice drafted a guide sheet that shows an example, viewable here.

Documentation is not required to be submitted with the Reimbursement Request Form (Appendix J), but sub-recipients should retain these records in case of audits.