2009 Year in Review: Broadband stimulus applications flood government agencies - FierceBroadbandWireless

The news: This past summer, nearly 2,200 bidders applied for almost $28 billion in broadband stimulus money from both the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's RUS fund. That is nearly seven times the $4 billion available for the program in the first round.

The bidders committed another $10.5 billion of their own money in matching funds, which means all of these bidders came forward with more than $38 billion in proposed projects. The statistics show more than 320 applicants sought nearly $2.5 billion for broadband awareness, training, access and support. Another 360 applications asked for a total of $1.9 billion for computer centers to expand broadband access. The remainder wanted funding for infrastructure projects...