ALA 2009 - National Broadband Initiative — SELCO/SELS

Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) there has been a buzz about broadband, middle-mile, last mile and fiber being part of the President’s stimulus plan. ARRA includes $7.2 billion for broadband and finally, last week, the NOFA (Notice of Fund Availability) and the related Federal eligibility guidelines came out with a very tight window for the first application cycle.

The electronic filing for the first round will open July 14 with a 30-day deadline of August 14. Truly a time crunch when trying to absorb the complexity of the different funding streams, eligibility requirements that vary between two separate Federal agencies, and definitions of “unserved” and “underserved” that are still being refined...