Telecom companies scramble for funding - BusinessWeek.com- msnbc.com
It's crunch time at International Broadband Electric Communications [IBEC]. The Huntsville [Ala.] telecom provider has until Aug. 14 to complete an application for part of the $4 billion that Uncle Sam is spreading around to make high-speed Internet connections more widely available. To meet the deadline, IBEC Chief Executive Scott Lee has six of his 54-person staff working overtime and weekends filling out the paperwork. "It's not an easy application. It's a lot of work in a short period of time," Lee says. Yet, it's "worth the effort."
No kidding. If successful, IBEC stands to walk away with $80 million to $100 million to help it build broadband networks in rural areas. In all, the economic stimulus legislation known as the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.2 billion in grants and loans to encourage the installation of broadband networks in areas with little or no access to it, from hard-to-reach hinterlands to low-income inner-city neighborhoods. The Obama Administration considers access to high-speed Internet connections a critical way of bridging socioeconomic gaps, creating jobs, and spurring economic growth...
No kidding. If successful, IBEC stands to walk away with $80 million to $100 million to help it build broadband networks in rural areas. In all, the economic stimulus legislation known as the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 set aside $7.2 billion in grants and loans to encourage the installation of broadband networks in areas with little or no access to it, from hard-to-reach hinterlands to low-income inner-city neighborhoods. The Obama Administration considers access to high-speed Internet connections a critical way of bridging socioeconomic gaps, creating jobs, and spurring economic growth...
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