FCC Awards St. Landry Parish $320,000 from National Competitive Outreach Program

Capitol Funding Solutions is pleased to announce that a proposal written for the St. Landry Parish Government was allocated $320,000 through the National Competitive Outreach Program. 

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced $60,000,000 in funding allocations for the National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP), a sub-program of the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (ACP Outreach Grant Program). The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) offers eligible households discounts of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.

The NCOP program funds projects that increase awareness of and participation of ACP benefits for eligible low-income households. For this round of funding, the FCC reviewed 350 grant applications in total for the ACP Outreach Grant Program, selecting 177 applicants to receive funding from the NCOP.

St. Landry Parish was one of four locations in Louisiana to receive funding from the program and received the second highest award in the state.

A recent broadband assessment conducted by Acadiana Planning Commission in 2021 revealed that in Acadiana, 21.95% of 224,455 households lacked broadband services, mainly including low income, older adults, and rural. The funds will allow St. Landry Parish government officials and regional partners to close the digital divide in the Acadiana area through marketing and outreach strategies to assist eligible families and households to gain access and information to broadband benefits.

View the public notice and awards here.

Learn more about the Affordable Connectivity Program here.