- Broadband Action Teams
Local capacity and access to high-quality, reliable broadband go hand-in-hand. SENDD is a national leader in supporting the creation of community-based task forces known as Broadband Action Teams. BATs have successfully empowered communities across the region to assess local connectivity needs, engage trusted internet service providers, and secure funding for broadband expansion projects. - Mapping and Speed Testing
Broadband mapping is complex, and SENDD is ready to help. With extensive experience in both the FCC and Nebraska Broadband Office challenge processes, SENDD staff are prepared to support members’ efforts to correct inaccuracies in state and federal broadband maps alike. SENDD also hosts a crowdsourced speed testing initiative, empowering its member communities to assess broadband connectivity as it is experienced by their residents. - Feasibility Studies
Our broadband team is prepared to assist communities seeking to enhance their access to broadband by identifying current infrastructure, assets, needs, and potential funding opportunities. SENDD is also able to design and estimate the cost of certain broadband infrastructure projects.
The District aims to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas, and broadband is the key that links our communities together. As unserved and underserved areas were labeled through this project, stakeholders and economic developers began planning for the potential expansion of broadband infrastructure that supported businesses and residents both now and in the future.
SENDD also contracted with the Lead for America program to hire two AmeriCorps Broadband Fellows. The Fellows helped create Broadband Action Teams (BATS) across the region. BATS are essential to broadband planning and deployment, including steps for digital inclusion and best practices for reaching marginalized populations. SENDD’s Broadband Fellows also worked with Gage County leaders to craft a sample Request for Proposals (RFP) utilized by county officials as they bid out American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded broadband infrastructure projects. Gage County leaders were the first in the state to use this document and were subsequently featured in the Benton Institute newsletter and included in a Mountain Connect (Steamboat, CO) event.
These efforts were recognized in March 2023, when SENDD was awarded a $500,000 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant (ACP). The District was the only Nebraska organization to receive the FCC funds. Partnering with NROC, the development districts contributed to enrolling nearly 100,000 Nebraska households in the ACP program.
In early 2024, SENDD received notification that the District received a USDA Broadband Technical Assistance grant. The Nebraska Regional Broadband Technical Assistance Initiative will be aimed at equipping communities with the knowledge and tools they need to be considered broadband-ready communities and to create incentives for ISPs to invest and build in the area.