Alaska company wins $25.3 million broadband stimulus grant

Broadband stimulus projects focused on delivering high-speed Internet services directly to citizens represent one of four categories for which grants are being awarded by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the two agencies distributing $7.2 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for broadband projects. Networks that bring services directly to users are referred to as "last mile."

Among the winners in the last-mile category was Alaska-based Sea Lion Management Group, partnered with Colorado-based Rivada Networks. The two companies secured $25.3 million from the RUS to bring high-speed wireless connectivity to 44 impoverished communities in southwestern Alaska. Many of the homes in those communities lack access to water and sewer systems. Residents use outhouses and haul water manually from a central location. Some of the villages are not connected to main roads and are usually accessed by small airplanes...

1,400 rejection letters sent to broadband stimulus applicants

Disappointing news reached 1,400 broadband stimulus grant applicants who got rejection letters this week from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), one of two federal agencies distributing $7.2 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for broadband projects.

The agency received more than 1,800 applications for the first of its two broadband stimulus funding windows. With 15 awards already announced, that leaves roughly 400 applications still in play for the first funding window. Winners are being announced on a rolling basis...

Taking the pulse of a broadband stimulus winner - Telecom News Analysis

A group of cable TV veterans, who believe they’ve found a way to cost-effectively use fiber-to-the-home in rural areas, has teamed up with a rural electric cooperative in Northeast Missouri to win $19 million in broadband stimulus funding from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) 's Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). (See Policy Watch: Stimulating Rural America .)

The network they are about to build could become a model for other rural electric cooperatives to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas...

Firm receives Internet funds | CJOnline.com

A Kansas company has been awarded $101 million in federal stimulus funds to build broadband Internet infrastructure.

The grant and loans to Rural Telephone Service Co. and its subsidiary NEX-Tech will enable development of high-speed Internet service in a 4,600-square-mile area of central and western Kansas...

Stimulus rejections sent out | Unfiltered

Organizations whose requests for broadband stimulus funds were rejected in the first round have begun to receive notification of those rejections—and judging by early news reports it appears government agencies should be prepared for another barrage of applications in the second round.

Among rejected applications that have come to light in local news reports are a request from the University of New Hampshire for $46 million for a broadband buildout and from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute for $100 million to bring broadband to a large area of western Massachusetts. Both organizations say they plan to apply again in the second round...

Broadband stimulus grants being announced on rolling basis

Broadband stimulus grant awards are being awarded on a rolling basis, with more coming from the first funding window established by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the two federal agencies distributing $7.2 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for broadband projects. The winning projects Vice President Joe Biden announced in December 2009 were only part of what the NTIA would distribute to applicants for the first funding window.

The NTIA labels its share of the money the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). A total of 15 BTOP grants have been awarded, so far, equaling approximately $200 million...

Broadband grant frustrations mount -- Urgent Communications article

More broadband stimulus awards were handed out this week, but the process continues to move at a snail's pace, despite the fact that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program now have issued rules for the second round and declared that applications are due March 15.

NTIA and RUS are in charge of doling out a total of $7.2 billion in grants and loans to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas in the U.S. The first-round recipients will receive $4 billion, but only a fraction has been awarded...

Ohio.com - USDA awarding $310 million for broadband projects

WASHINGTON: The Agriculture Department is handing out nearly $310 million in stimulus money to bring high-speed Internet connections to 14 rural communities around the country.

The awards being announced today amount to the largest round of government funding for broadband since Congress included $7.2 billion for high-speed networks and adoption programs in last year's stimulus bill...

NTIA, RUS kick off the 2nd broadband stimulus funding round - FierceTelecom

If you're applying for federal funds in the next round of the Commerce Department's broadband stimulus process, the U.S. government promises a more streamlined process the second time around.

"In response to lessons learned from the first funding round, RUS is making important changes that will make the process easier for applicants and target our resources toward 'last-mile' broadband connections to homes and businesses," said RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein in a statement...

Second-round of broadband stimulus funding gives priority to libraries | District Dispatch

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) says changes made to the second round of funding for the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) will expand the opportunities for libraries and other community anchor institutions to apply and receive funding.

In November, the ALA filed comments to both agencies describing the challenges faced by library applicants in the first round. Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA Washington Office, said the association was pleased to note a number of these comments were incorporated in the round-two BTOP Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and BIP NOFA, which were released Friday...

Lyric Communications continues effort to bring broadband Internet into the area - News - News Item

The quest by Lyric Communications for federal stimulus money to bring broadband Internet service to the region is ongoing, according to owner Jeffery Kozero.

"We want to bring state-of-the-art service to the area," he said this week...

Kodiak-Kenai moves forward sans stimulus : Communications Technology

Although it hasn't yet been awarded any broadband stimulus money, Alaskan-based Kodiak-Kenai Cable Company (KKCC) is moving forward with plans to finance and build an express undersea fiber optic cable connecting Asia and Europe routed through the Arctic.

As part of the project, KKCC hopes to also construct 10 landing points at existing communities where last-mile providers could then build and/or extend their connections. (For more, click here)...

Analysis of major changes to broadband stimulus rules - GLG News

On January 15, 2010, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service launched Round Two of the broadband stimulus program.

In response to widespread criticism of their rules for Round One, NTIA and RUS made substantial changes to their rules. These changes are summarized in the accompanying analysis and discussed in detail at http://tinyurl.com/ydn7nml...

New broadband stimulus requirements include urban cities

Urban cities will not be excluded from applying for broadband stimulus grants, as they were, for the most part, in the first round of funding distributed in December 2009.

New, separate notices of funds available (NOFA) have been released detailing eligibility requirements from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the two federal agencies charged with disbursing $7.2 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for broadband projects...

Broadband stimulus program opens second funding round | Telecompetitor

NTIA and RUS announced availability of $4.8 billion in broadband stimulus funding. This is the second round of the program. New separate Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for the BTOP and BIP programs, which outlines rules for applying for the second round of funding, are now available.

The second round NOFAs have been modified from the initial round. Both NTIA and RUS sought public comments for modifying the rules to make them more focused and user friendly. The agencies plan to accept applications for the second round of funding from February 16th to March 15^th. Awards are scheduled to be announced by September 30^th...

Round two stimulus: $4.8 billion for broadband

On January 15, 2010, both the NTIA and RUS released separate Funding Availability for $4.8 billion in broadband grants.

This is the second and final round of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP)...

Ten more Connected Nation partner projects receive Recovery Act funding for broadband mapping and planning initiatives - Yahoo! News

Recently, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced grant awards for 10 Connected Nation state-level partner projects. Connected Nation has been selected by these nine states and one United States territory to launch comprehensive broadband mapping and planning initiatives in the interest of increasing broadband accessibility and use.

Washington, DC (Vocus) January 4, 2010 -- Recently, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced grant awards for 10 Connected Nation state-level partner projects. Connected Nation has been selected by these nine states and one United States territory to launch comprehensive broadband mapping and planning initiatives in the interest of increasing broadband accessibility and use...

Open government or hide in plain sight? -- Washington Technology

I’m all for open government and easy access to data on how the government spends our money.

But so far, the data available at Recovery.gov isn’t providing much in terms of insights...

Does America want the world's best wireline broadband?

Recently I had a chance to watch a December C-SPAN interview with Blair Levin, the man charged with writing America's national broadband plan.

In it he spends a lot of time talking about the progress America's broadband ecosystem is making on its own without any additional government intervention. For example, he cites how 90percent of Americans should have access to at least one provider offering broadband at 10Mbps or above through market-driven means alone...

NTIA three months behind on broadband grant distribution, GAO says -- Federal Computer Week

The Commerce Department has had to push back by three months its scheduled date for awarding the first round of broadband grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office.

Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is administering the distribution of $4.7 billion in broadband grants to expand services to unserved and underserved areas, enhance broadband capacity at public computer centers, and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband...

Libraries get broadband stimulus grants | American Libraries Magazine

Libraries in six states are among the beneficiaries of the first round of awards from the $7.2-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband grant and loan programs. The initial $183 million in awards, going to 18 broadband projects in 17 states, was announced by Vice President Joseph Biden December 17 and detailed in a National Economic Council report (PDF file) issued that same day. Altogether, $2 billion will be released by early March, according to a White House press release.

Coincidentally, Biden’s announcement came two weeks after the American Library Association submitted comments (PDF file) to the Federal Communications Commission about libraries’ pivotal role in bridging the digital divide...

Commerce Department's NTIA awards grants for broadband mapping and planning in Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced that it has awarded grants to fund broadband mapping and planning activities in Iowa, Montana, New Hampshire, Utah, and the U.S. Virgin Islands under NTIA’s State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program. The program, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will increase broadband access and adoption through better data collection and broadband planning. The data will be displayed in NTIA’s national broadband map, a tool that will inform policymakers’ efforts and provide consumers with improved information on the broadband Internet services available to them.

NTIA received applications representing all 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia to participate in the program, meaning that all governments that were eligible to apply for grants did so, whether directly or through a designated entity. NTIA has now awarded 41 grants totaling approximately $78 million under the program, including today’s announcement, and the agency expects to finish announcing awards under this program in early 2010...

Civitium helps North Georgia network cooperative land $33 million in broadband stimulus funds

Vice President Joseph Biden has reportedly presented a $33 million federal grant award to the North Georgia Network Cooperative. Under the direction of the Development Authority of Lumpkin County, Ga., Civitium developed the project that earned it the funding from inception through network design, organizational structure, financial planning and grant preparation.

Civitium, a consulting firm focused on the planning and management of next-generation broadband networks and also supported NGN during an intense due diligence phase with the NTIA...

Boston Public Library and partners win broadband stimulus

The Boston Public Library (BPL) partnered with the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) to win $1.9 million in the first round of broadband stimulus awards in early December. The BPL plans to add at least 281 public terminals for accessing the Internet. Among the winning application's promises was to organize a schedule of Internet usage classes to go with the new computers.

"I can't emphasize enough that it's more important to teach people how to use this stuff effectively, rather than just plugging the terminals in and saying, ‘Good luck,'" said Thomas Blake, digital projects manager for the BPL...

What happens to the stimulus after the money runs out?

With so much buzz built up around the stimulus, especially now that awards are finally being made, there's disturbingly little being said about what happens after the money runs out.

The only recent discussion I've seen is this great call to action from Charles Benton and Dr. Kate Williams about "Why We Must Measure the Results of the $7.2 Billion in ARRA Broadband Funding..."