Analysis of the US broadband stimulus package

In January 2009 the US Congress began considering the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill 2009 aimed at kick-starting an economy in deep recession. The package, passed into law on 17 February, comprised $787 billion of mainly tax cuts, unemployment benefits and spending in education, health care, infrastructure and energy.

Included in the fiscal stimulus package was a relatively modest $7.2 billion for broadband and wireless in unserved and underserved areas, of which approximately two-thirds is to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and approximately one-third by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS)...