Public Telecommunications Facilities Program Law and Legal Definition
The Public Telecommunications Facilities Program is a competitive grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It is also known as the PTFP.
The PTFP helps public broadcasting stations, state and local governments, Indian Tribes, and nonprofit organizations in constructing facilities to bring educational and cultural programs to the U.S. public using broadcast and nonbroadcast telecommunications technologies. Additionally the program has authority to allocate funds to support the Pan-Pacific Educational and Cultural Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) project. PEACESAT provides satellite-delivered education, medical, and environmental emergency telecommunications to many small-island nations and territories in the Pacific Ocean region.
The following is an example of a federal regulation detailing the purpose of the grant program:
15 CFR 2301.1 Program Purposes.
Pursuant to section 390 of the Act, (The Communications Act of 1934, as amended), the purpose of the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) is to assist, through matching grants, in the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities in order to achieve the following objectives:
(a) Extend delivery of public telecommunications services to as many citizens in the United States as possible by the most efficient and economical means, including the use of broadcast and nonbroadcast technologies;
(b) Increase public telecommunications services and facilities available to, operated by, and owned by minorities and women; and
(c) Strengthen the capability of existing public television and radio stations to provide public telecommunications services to the public.
