Pursuit's Take
The American Recovery and Re- investment Act of 2009 provided the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approximately $4.7 billion to establish the Broadband Tech- nology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
Of the $4.7 billion, NTIA issued 232 BTOP grant awards repre- senting approximately $3.9 billion. The bulk of BTOP dollars, totaling $3.5 billion, went toward 123 in- frastructure grants.
The OIG audit found excess equipment, deficient inventory management controls, and a lack of written agreements addressing the federal interest in the equipment. In addition, three of the six recipients we reviewed may not be able to sustain network service beyond the grant period. These projects, in which approximately $154 million in federal grant dollars have been invested, were incurring monthly losses because their expenses exceeded revenues.