Broadband stimulus: A view from the trenches

Friday marks the final day for electronic applications to be submitted for the first tranche of $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding. As Stacey has noted, after being given just 45 days to get their applications together, many have opted to wait until the second and third tranches to hand them in. And of those she’s talked to that have submitted applications, the lion’s share have been wireless providers.

However, based on interactions with our wireline customers here at Calix, to whom we provide broadband service delivery equipment, we’re confident that they shouldn’t be discounted just yet. Nearly 100 of our wireline service provider customers or their representative consulting firms have either asked us to issue recommendation letters on their behalf, or have made us aware of their stimulus proposal submissions in this first ”window.” These proposals have ranged in size from a few hundred thousand dollars to more than half a billion dollars. Average proposal size? Well over $10 million...