Rolling Application Submission Deadlines:
SFY 2026 – 11:59 PM CT May 13, 2026
SFY 2027 – 11:59 PM CT April 30, 2027  

Grant Announcement:

SFY2026-27 Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier Grant Program

All questions for the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC) Grant Program should be directed to: grant.grywalsky@widma.gov or interop@widma.gov. If you experience difficulties with the email addresses above, please call [608] 471-2155 for assistance.

Description: The Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs/Office of Emergency Communications (DMA/OEC) is pleased to announce the ILEC Grant Program funding opportunity. The ILEC Grant Program is intended to provide reimbursement to eligible ILECs for allowable NG9-1-1 costs incurred on or after March 29, 2024. Funding awarded under this grant announcement will include funding for both State Fiscal Years (SFY) 2026 and 2027. Applicants may apply in both funding years, but a separate application must be submitted in each state fiscal year.

Application Submission:  Applications must be emailed as attachments to interop@widma.gov by the application deadline of 11:59PM April 30, 2027. All application documents must be submitted in PDF or Excel format. Emailed applications should be labeled with the subject “ILEC Grant Application – COMPANY NAME”. All application documents must be submitted as separate documents.

Rolling Application Period: OEC will accept applications the day this announcement is released and will continue to accept applications until May 13, 2026 for SFY 2026 funds and until April 30, 2027 for SFY 2027 funds. Applications received after April 30, 2027, will not be accepted. See Page 5 of this announcement for more details.

Applicant Eligibility: Based on recommendations provided by the State 9-1-1 Subcommittee and in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 256.35(3s)(bx)3., DMA policy establishes eligibility criteria for the ILEC Grant Program. Please see NGSP.2 ILEC Grant Policy for a full list of applicant eligibility criteria: https://oec.wi.gov/incumbent-local-exchange-carrier-ilec-grants-statement-of-policy/

Applications may be submitted by a parent company that operates one or more eligible affiliate/subsidiary companies. However, each affiliate/subsidiary company must be submitted on separate application forms. For example, if a parent company operates two separate subsidiary companies, then two grant applications must be submitted. Costs can only be counted once.

FUNDING INFORMATION

Eligible Costs: Eligible costs for reimbursement under the ILEC Grant Program must be directly related to NG9-1-1 implementation and includes any of the activities below¹:

All eligible costs must be incurred on or after March 29, 2024, and prior to submitting a grant application.² All grant-related expenses, including those reported as match must be auditable.

To be eligible for grant reimbursement, any contracts and associated eligible grant costs must be expended for the NG9-1-1 transition and no other business purposes.

Ineligible Costs:

• Non-IP based transport and trunking costs (e.g., TDM/SS7)
• Costs associated with Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database records
• Legacy selective router costs
• ILEC operational costs
• Costs associated with physical facility construction such as the construction of a central office
• Legacy Network Gateway (LNG) maintenance costs
• Expenses already reimbursed by another governmental entity, such as a local unit of government, another state, or the federal government
• Costs incurred prior to March 29, 2024

Anticipated Funding Amount: A maximum of $6 million in both FY26 and FY27 has been made available for grants under the ILEC Grant Program, totaling $12 million in available state funding. Grantees will be provided with 80% state reimbursement of allowable costs. The remaining 20% of allowable costs submitted with the grant application will be applied as the required match/cost sharing requirement.

Funds will be awarded in each fiscal year until the respective fiscal year deadline or until all available funds in the fiscal year are exhausted. Any funds remaining in each fiscal year will be returned to the Wisconsin 911 Fund.

DMA cannot guarantee future grant funding levels beyond the existing budget allocations in SFY26 and SFY27.

Source of Funds: This state grant was authorized by Wis. Stats. § 256.35(3s)(bx), with funds allocated to DMA from the Wisconsin 911 Fund (formerly Wisconsin Police and Fire Protection Fund).

Match/Cost Sharing Requirement: Under the SFY26/27 ILEC Grant Program, there is a 20% cost share/match requirement. Cash match only. Cash (hard) match includes non-governmental cash spent on project related costs. Matching funds must be allowable expenses under the grant program and proof of the source of the match amount must be identified in the application.  

Funding sources that CANNOT be used for your match amount include:

• Other state or federal grants such as the Broadband Expansion Grant Program
• Funds already allocated as match on another grant
• Any state or federal funds

Any claimed cost share expense can only be counted once. Funds received through this grant program cannot be counted as match for another grant. All grant-related expenses, including those reported as match must be auditable by the state.

GRANT TIMELINE  

Rolling Application Period: OEC will accept applications as of the date the announcement is released on a first come, first serve basis. OEC will continue to review applications as they are received until the application deadline of April 30, 2027 or until all available grant funds have been exhausted.

Applicants may apply in both funding years, but a separate application must be submitted for each state fiscal year. Any applicants planning to apply for funding in each fiscal year must submit their applications by the applicable deadlines below:

For example, an applicant may submit their application on May 13, 2026 to seek SFY26 funds for allowable NG9-1-1 costs incurred from March 29, 2024 through April 30, 2026, and then submit a second application by April 30, 2027 to seek SFY27 funds for costs incurred May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2027.

Award Notice: OEC will aim to provide award notices within 45 days of receiving the application. Applications received after May 13^th, 2026 will be delayed and processed using SFY27 grant funding.

Any changes to the above timelines will be communicated to all applicable parties.

GRANT APPLICATION

Applications must be emailed as attachments to interop@widma.gov. Emailed applications should be labeled with the subject “ILEC Grant Application – COMPANY NAME”. All application documents must be submitted as separate documents.

All required application forms may be accessed by emailing interop@widma.gov or through SharePoint here: https://widma.sharepoint.com/:f:/s/OfficeofEmergencyCommunication/IgAFRWRXXCrETrtD58NOoKxDAUCuh6WR_XZUZX2jmaJ3XgY?e=j8SlxY

Application Checklist

• Grant Application Form
• Excel Budget Spreadsheet
• All invoices and proof of payment (i.e., receipts, financial ledger, copy of check) for allowable costs being submitted for grant reimbursement  
• Final network diagrams certified by a professional engineer or equivalent that demonstrate the redundancy/diversity that has been achieved for the NG9-1-1 transition. The diagram(s) must include general locations of all network interconnection and end points.
• Other applicable documentation required by the department
  • Copies of any executed contracts authorizing the purchases included in the grant application
  • W-9 Form – used to verify tax information
  • DOA-6460 New STAR Supplier Form – used to register the applicant as a “supplier” for the purposes of processing grant reimbursement
  • A copy of the Certificate of Authority issued by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission or other legal documentation proving ILEC classification status
  • Affirmative Action Plan or applicable waiver (See Department of Administration Form 3024, or its successor, for a listing of all applicable exemptions)
  • Certifications regarding Lobbying, Debarment, Suspension, and other State Taxes
  • Financial statement audit report (most recent available)
  • Confidentiality Request Form – only required if the applicant is submitting documentation that they would like to be considered confidential under Wisconsin Public Records Laws
  • Cybersecurity Risk Management Plan

Additional information will be collected in the application form to ensure grant funds are allocated effectively and to aid in required state reporting.

Confidential Information and Wisconsin Public Records: All records related to the ILEC Grant Program are considered public records as provided by Wisconsin’s Public Records Laws (Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31 to 19.39) except for trade secret and proprietary information as defined in Wis. Stat. § 134.90(1)(c), and certain personally identifiable information (PII).

Applicants must use the Confidentiality Request Form to identify any documentation submitted as part of the application that should be considered exempt from public disclosure. 

DMA shall make the final determination of what records qualify for an exemption from Wisconsin Public Records Law.

GRANT CERTIFICATION

At the time of the application, the applicant must provide certification³ that:

• The applicant is acting as an “incumbent local exchange carrier” as defined under 47 USC 251 (h) with active customers in Wisconsin as of March 29, 2024, and must be operating as an “originating service provider” as defined in Wis. Stats. § 256.35(1)(es).
• Allowable costs have been incurred by the applicant for the benefit of its Wisconsin customers on or after March 29, 2024, and prior to submitting a grant application.
• Allowable costs have not already been reimbursed by another governmental entity, such as a local unit of government, another state, or the federal government.
• All transport paths and/or aggregation services used by the ILEC network(s) are connected to the Emergency Services IP Network (ESInet) via two separate and independent IP-based Points of Interconnection (POIs)⁴. For example, an ILEC network would meet this requirement if the design includes at least two fiber paths, each path going to two separate IP-based ESInet POIs.
• The ILEC transport layer, including any transport used in conjunction with third-party aggregation services, is sized and designed in such a way that it shall prevent any single points of failure from the ILEC network to the IP-based ESInet POIs. For example, a single fiber cut between the ILEC’s central office and an ESInet POI shall not prevent the ILEC’s customer 9-1-1 calls from being delivered to a second ESInet POI.
• The ILEC has followed interconnection procedures required by the Public Safety Answering Point’s (PSAP’s) chosen ESInet provider.
• The ILEC delivers 9-1-1 calls to a PSAP’s chosen ESInet provider using IP-based SIP format. If the ILEC is applying for costs associated with the database used to operate NG9-1-1 (i.e., LIS), then the ILEC also delivers 9-1-1 calls with location information embedded in the call signaling using Presence Information Data Format – Location Object (PIDF-LO).
• The ILEC network(s), including any third-party aggregation services used to deliver 9-1-1 calls complies with all applicable commonly accepted standards, including but not limited to:
  • Industry standards for reliability and security
  • Commonly accepted NG9-1-1 standards (e.g. National Emergency Number Association (NENA i3))
  • Cybersecurity recommendations and best practices (e.g. Task Force on Optimal PSAP Architecture (TFOPA), Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC), adherence to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework)
  • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and regulations (e.g. FCC 24-78)

AWARD PROCESS

Grant awards are limited to one grant per ILEC per state fiscal year. If an ILEC receives a grant award using SFY26 grant funding, the ILEC will not be eligible to apply again until after May 13, 2026.

Applicants will be notified once an award decision has been made. OEC will aim to provide award notices within 45 days of receiving a complete application. Any costs included in the application that are deemed ineligible will be subtracted from the final reimbursement amount and noted in the award package. All grant conditions and auditing requirements will be contained in the award documents.

A copy of the draft award documents may be made available upon request. Please email interop@widma.gov to request a copy.

Awardees must return signed award documents to interop@widma.gov before grant reimbursement can be processed.

REIMBURSEMENT

Per state statute, grant funds will be received through reimbursement by DMA. Reimbursement will occur within 60 days of OEC receiving the signed award package and final equipment inventory report (if applicable). A physical check will be mailed to the mailing address and company name identified on the W-9 provided.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For general questions related to the ILEC Grant Program, please send an email to grant.grywalsky@widma.gov or interop@widma.gov. If you experience difficulties with the email addresses above, please call [608] 471-2155.

¹ These terms are defined in the NENA Master Glossary of 9-1-1 Terminology.
² For example, if an applicant is submitting an application on May 1^st, 2026 , they could apply for reimbursement of costs expended from March 30, 2024 through May 1, 2026 if proof of payment can be provided.
³ These certifications only apply to the ILEC’s network (or their chosen third-party aggregator(s)) prior to the ESInet demarcation points (IP-based POIs).
⁴ ESInet provider contact information will be provided upon request if additional information is required for specific POI location information and interconnection procedures.