Confused about the terms you see in broadband grant applications and program guidance? You’re not alone! That’s why we made this helpful glossary for you, to help you quickly navigate broadband grants.

63-20 Financing

Aerial Fiber
(Aerial Installation)

Affidavit

Affordable Connectivity Program
(ACP)

Asymmetric

Attestation

Average Revenue Per User
(ARPU)

BEAD Timelines

Backbone

Bandwidth

Bank Loan

Bit

Broadband

Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act
(Broadband DATA Act)

Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act Maps
(Broadband DATA Maps)

Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program
(BEAD Program)

Broadband Initiatives Program
(BIP)

Broadband Technology Opportunities Program
(BTOP)

Buried Fiber
(Buried Fiber Deployment)

Byte

Cable Internet
(Cable)

Capital Expenditures
(Capex)

Capital Stack
(Capital Structure)

Census Block

Challenge Process

Churn Rate
(Churn)

Coaxial Cable
(Coax)

Common Equity

Communications Act of 1934

Community Anchor Institution
(CAI)

Conduit Financing

Connect America Fund
(CAF)

Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program
(CMC Pilot Program)

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021

Content Provider

Cooperative
(Co-op)

Customer Premises Equipment
(CPE)

Data Packet

Debt

Demand Point Passed
(DPP)

Digital Canyon
(Digital Divide)

Digital Subscriber Line
(DSL)

Earnings Before Interest Taxes Debt and Amortization
(EBITDA)

Economic Development Incentive

Eligible Community Anchor Institution

Eligible Entity

Equity
(Shareholders’ Equity)

FCC Registration Number
(FRN)

Feasibility Study

Federal Communications Commission
(FCC)

Fiber

Fiber-to-the-Curb
(FTTC)

Fiber-to-the-Home
(FTTH)

Fiber-to-the-Node
(FTTN)

Fiber-to-the-Premises
(FTTP)

Formula Grant

General Obligation Bond
(GO Bond)

Grant Adjusted Yield on Cost
(Grant Adjusted YOC)

Grant Anticipation Note
(GAN)

Guaranteed Bank Loan

High Cost Area

Incumbent and Competitive Local Exchange Carriers
(ILEC)

Indefeasible Right of Use
(IRU)

Industrial Development Bond
(IRB)

Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act

Internet Protocol

Internet Service Provider
(ISP)

Last Mile

Latency
(Ping)

Letter of Credit
(LOC)

Limited-Tax General Obligation Pledge

Loan

Local Coordination

Low-Cost Broadband Service Option

Make Ready Work

Match Capital
(Match Funding)

Mezzanine Debt
(Mezz Debt)

Middle Mile
(Backhaul)

Millimeter Wave

Mobile

Multiple Dwelling Unit
(Multi-Dwelling Unit)

Municipal Bond
(Muni Bond)

National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA)

Network Node

Nielsen’s Law of Internet Bandwidth

Notice of Funding Opportunities
(NOFO)

Operating Margin
(EBITDA Margin)

Optical Line Terminal
(OLT)

Optical Network Terminal
(ONT)

Outside Plant

Packet Loss

Peering and Transit Agreements

Point to Point

Preferred Equity

Project Finance

Public Utility Company
(Utility)

Public-Private Partnership
(PPP)

Revenue Bond

Revolving Credit Line
(Revolver)

Rural Digital Opportunity Fund
(RDOF)

Rural Electrical Cooperatives
(RECs)

Rural Utility Service

Satellite Internet

Secured Debt

Security

Senior Debt

Simple Agreement for Future Equity
(SAFE)

Sub-Grantee
(Subgrantee)

Subordinated Debt
(Subordinated Debenture)

Symmetric

Take Rate

Tax-Exempt Debt

Taxable Debt

Telecommunications Act of 1996

Tier 1, 2, 3

Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program

Underserved Location
(Underserved)

Underserved Service Project

Universal Service Fund

Unlevered Returns

Unlimited-Tax General Obligation Pledge

Unsecured Debt

Unserved Location
(Unserved)

Unserved Service Project

Upload and download

Wi-Fi

Wireless

Working Capital
(Net Working Capital)

Yield on Cost
(YOC)