Federal grant programs / Department of Commerce

Middle Mile (Broadband) Grant Program (11.033)

Also known as Middle Mile Grant Program

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$940 million
• Grant awards37
• Typical award$19.7 million
• Awarded in FY 2025-$25.1 million
• Size rank268 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceGrant

Key findings

• It is the 268th largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• The 20 largest recipients received 88% of the money.
• Awards went to recipients in 30 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Middle Mile (Broadband) Grant 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, as well as to promote broadband connection resiliency through the creation of alternative network connection paths that can be designed to prevent single points of failure on a broadband network. The goal of this program is to award grants to a broad range of applications proposing creative ways to fill the gaps in our nation’s middle mile infrastructure and advance our national goals of increasing connectivity, affordability, and equity.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

In order to apply for a middle mile grant, an entity must be a State, political subdivision of a State, Tribal government, technology company, electric utility, utility cooperative, public utility district, telecommunications company, telecommunications cooperative, nonprofit foundation, nonprofit corporation, nonprofit institution, nonprofit association, regional planning council, Native entity, economic development authority, or any partnership of two or more of these entities.

What the money can and cannot pay for

Please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity once posted on Grants.Gov.;

Matching requirements

This program has no statutory formula. Please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity.MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Award range and average, in the agency's words

Please refer to the Notice of Funding Opportunity once posted on Grants.Gov.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Businesses received 43% of the money, state and local governments 29% and small businesses 11%.

By state

Each state below has its own page for this program, with its recipients and yearly totals.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.