Stimulus package set aside $350 million for national broadband map | Business | Star-Telegram

WASHINGTON — The stimulus package may have been too enthusiastic about spending money on one particular project: figuring out where broadband Internet access is available and how fast it is.

The $787 billion stimulus championed by the Obama administration set aside up to $350 million to create a national broadband map that could guide policies aimed at expanding high-speed Internet access. That $350 million tag struck some people in the telecommunications industry as excessive, compared with smaller, existing efforts. The map won’t even be done in time to help decide where to spend much of the $7.2 billion in stimulus money earmarked for broadband programs. Now it appears that the final cost won’t be as high as $350 million — though just how much it will be is unclear...