(6) To insure, for up to twenty years, the payment or repayment of all or any part of the principal of and interest on any form of debt instrument entered into by an enterprise, public body or authority of the state with a financial institution, including, but not limited to, banks, insurance companies and other institutions in the business of lending money, which debt instruments are to be solely for capital costs relating to:

(i) Providing broadband service, as defined in section one, article one, chapter thirty-one-g of this code, to a household or business located in an unserved area, as defined in section two of said article, or in an area with access to Internet service, by wireline or fixed wireless technology, but that fifteen percent or more of households and businesses in the area are served by Internet service with an actual downstream data rate less than ten megabits per second and an upstream data rate less than one megabit per second, and no part of the area has three or more wireline or fixed wireless broadband service providers; or

(ii) Building a segment of a telecommunications network that links a network operator’s core network to a local network plant that serves either an unserved area, as defined in section two, article one, chapter thirty-one-g of this code, or an area in which no more than two wireline providers are operating.

The authority may not insure the payment or repayment of any part of the principal of and interest on any form of debt instrument under this subdivision, unless the participating financial institution provides written certification to the authority that, but for the authority’s insuring the debt instrument, the financial institution would not otherwise make the loan based solely on the creditworthiness of the loan applicant: Provided, That nothing contained in this subsection or any other provision of this article may be construed as permitting the authority to insure the refinancing of existing debt.

Upon the filing of an application for loan insurance under this subsection, the broadband provider shall cause to be published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, notice of the filing of the application and that the authority may approve the same unless within ten business days after completion of publication a written objection is received by the authority from a person or persons challenging that the proposed broadband project does not satisfy the provisions of this subsection. The publication area for such notice is to be the county or counties in which any portion of the proposed broadband project is to be constructed. The notice shall be in such form as the authority shall direct, and shall include a map of the area or areas to be served by the proposed broadband project. The applicant shall also cause to be mailed by first class, on or before the first day of publication of the notice, a copy of the notice to all known current providers of broadband service within the area proposed to be served. If a challenge under this paragraph is timely received by the authority, the authority shall advise the Broadband Enhancement Council, established in article one of chapter thirty-one-g of this code, in writing within five business days. The council shall set the matter for hearing on a date within thirty days of receipt of notice from the authority. The Broadband Enhancement Council shall issue a decision on whether the proposed project satisfies the requirements of this subsection or not within thirty days of completion of such hearing. Any party participating in said hearing may appeal the council’s decision within thirty days of the issuance of said decision to the Circuit Court of Kanawha County. This provision shall apply to all applicants except to those broadband providers that plan on providing a downstream data rate of at least one gigabyte per second to the end user.