1. A. All GUMBO applications shall be publicly available on the office’s website for a period of at least 60 days prior to award. During the 60-day period, any interested party may submit comments to the director concerning any pending application.
2. B. The protest process, official decisions, and provider appeals shall be conducted in accordance with R.S. 51:2370.4(C) and 2370.5, as well as this Chapter.
3. C. A provider of broadband service may submit a protest of any application or project area on the grounds the proposed project covers an area where either broadband service exists, or construction of broadband infrastructure will begin within 24 months as described in §201 of this part and defined within the GUMBO grant program. Comments and protests shall be submitted in writing through the office’s website, and all protests shall be accompanied by all relevant supporting documentation and shall be considered by the office in connection with the review of the application or project area. The protesting party bears the burden of proof.

4. D. Protests shall contain all relevant supporting documentation, including, but not limited to, the following:

   1. 1. a signed and notarized affidavit affirming the protest and attached information are true;
   2. 2. current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Form 477 or equivalent;
   3. 3. minimum/maximum speeds available in the proposed project area;
   4. 4. number of serviceable locations within the proposed project area, including the speeds those serviceable locations are able to receive;
   5. 5. street level data of customers receiving service within the proposed project area;
   6. 6. point shapefiles that show each proposed passing in the challenged area, designated by a singular mapped point, in the protested area containing attribute data showing the addresses of each point;
   7. 7. polygon shapefiles delineating the general challenged area(s);
   8. 8. through the use of the project area map submitted by the applicant, a map indicating where the protested serviceable locations are within the proposed project area;
   9. 9. heat maps indicating received signal strength indicator (RSSI) in the challenged area.
5. E. Upon the close of the application period, and throughout the succeeding 60-day protesting period, a blackout period shall be instituted. This blackout period shall remain in effect until the announcement of awards. During this blackout period, protesting parties shall not initiate contact with the office, except as provided by this section. The office reserves the right to initiate contact with a protesting party to seek clarification of a protest, the data contained therein, or to request additional information.
6. F. Should a protest be validated, the office shall work with an applicant to amend an application or project area to reduce the number of unserved prospective broadband recipients and re-scope the application or project area. The office shall revise application or project area scores in accordance with amended applications. As a result of a validated protest and a reduction in the number of unserved prospective broadband recipients, an applicant shall also have the option to withdraw its application or project area.
7. G. The protest period for protesting an award shall not exceed 7 days from the announcement of awards.
8. H. Protest and appeal decisions provided by the director and the Commissioner of Administration shall be provided in writing to the protesting party.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 51:2370-2370.16.

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Office of the Governor, Division of Administration, Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, LR 48:1514 (June 2022).