The Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant (MMG) Program provides funding for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle mile infrastructure. The purpose of the grant program is to expand and extend middle mile infrastructure to reduce the cost of connecting areas that are unserved or underserved to the internet backbone.
Grants can be used for the construction, improvement, or acquisition of middle mile infrastructure, including:
- Construction, improvement, or acquisition of facilities and equipment
- Engineering design, permitting and work related to project reviews
- Personnel costs, incl. salaries and benefits for staff and consultants
- Other costs necessary to programmatic activities
Key questions to consider when preparing your application:
- Will this network result in lower prices for consumers?
- Will this project connect areas that currently lack service?
- Will this project provide more reliable internet service?
- How long will it take to build the network?
- Does the applicant have a demonstrated record of compliance with federal labor and employment laws?
- How does this project account for climate change risks?
Download application guidance
Download application checklist and packet
Review the complete Funding Opportunity Announcement
Complete application packets must be submitted electronically through the NTIA Application Portal.
Cost Sharing / Matching
The amount of a middle mile grant awarded to an eligible entity through this program may not exceed 70 percent of the total project cost.
Contact
If you have questions about this program, please email MiddleMile@NTIA.gov.
Download FAQ If you don't see the answer to your question, please submit to internetforall@ntia.gov.
Background
Passed on a bipartisan basis, the Infrastructure Act established the Middle Mile Grant Program to complement other programs focused on internet connectivity and digital equity. Middle mile infrastructure does not reach the end user’s location, but typically aggregates large quantities of traffic for carriage between networks.
The variety of middle mile arrangements is broad. Middle mile infrastructure might carry traffic via undersea cable to remote locations such as Hawaii or American territories and possessions elsewhere in the Pacific, may “backhaul” wireless traffic via a fiber-optic link from an antenna mounted on a tower to the provider’s wired network, may bring the internet to previously unserved Tribal or Native lands, or may simply connect neighboring towns. Middle mile service, moreover, might be offered by a wide range of entities, from traditional retail Internet Service Providers, large technology companies that do not offer retail broadband at all, or electric utilities that increasingly recognize their capability to transform the communications market.
Regardless of who deploys and operates them, middle mile connections are crucial to connectivity and competition.