Specifications include, but are not limited to: New and adjusted evaluation criteria include the following: ● Project Description and Need ○ Combine scoring of business and community anchor institution passing to a single, up-to 10-point section in the Project Description and Need category. Note: Passings of significant impact are still included under Commonwealth Priorities. ○ Scoring criteria on universal broadband coverage moved from Commonwealth Priorities category to the Project Description and Need category. ○ Reduced scoring cap on percent of project area that serves areas with less than 10/1 speeds ○ Reduced scoring cap on maximum speeds available in the project area ○ Removed the scoring of project overlap. Note: This does not eliminate overlap allowance of project areas with existing networks. ● Project Readiness ○ Increased scoring cap of the project management plan ● Project Budget and Cost Appropriateness ○ Moved the scoring of percent of project funded by matching funds from the Project Readiness category to the Project Budget and Cost Appropriateness category. ○ Moved the scoring of passings from Project Description and Need to the Budget and Cost Appropriateness category ○ Note: Wireline and wireless applications are evaluated against projects of the same technology type in terms of state requested funding per passing.
