Broadband Stimulus: Feds Unveil Funding Details

For-Profit Companies Allowed to Seek Loans, Grants

The federal government has, at last, spelled out who may seek the grants and loans provided in the broadband portion of the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, and the process for doing so. The responsible agencies – the Rural Utilities Service and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration – also have clarified questions surrounding the definition of broadband; the role of the middle mile; network management; and whether for-profit companies are eligible for any of the $7.2 billion in deployment funds.

NTIA and RUS on July 1 released a 121-page “notice of funds availability” for the broadband economic stimulus initiative. But the nomenclature of that document is deceptive: It’s important to note the first round of recipients will not actually be announced until early November; the government aims to distribute the money no more than 30 days later. Two more rounds will ensue, although the agencies did not provide further timelines except to say all money will be dispersed by Sept. 30, 2010.

Awards won’t be paid until states have had their say in which of the pre-screened applicants should take on which projects. According to NTIA and RUS, applications being considered will go to the governor of each state. States then will be asked to prioritize recommended projects and explain why the proposals meet their “greatest needs.”

“This will allow states, who have the local knowledge and geographic expertise, the opportunity to help target and expedite release of these important funds,” National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners President Frederick Butler and Ray Baum, chairman of the organization’s telecom committee, said in a joint statement.

In addition, NTIA and RUS said states should “provide mapping and planning data to support their recommendations.”

After all the input, the loans and grants will be awarded on a points system. Whoever amasses the most points for a given project receives the money.

And to that point, NTIA and RUS also said they will have subject-matter experts in engineering and business analyzing applications, laying to rest fears on the part of some WiMAX and Wi-Fi vendors that non-techie types in government might misunderstand or overlook the part wireless can play in reaching unserved and underserved areas.

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines

Read Comments [1]