Broadband stimulus fund applicants sharpen their proposals for the second round - GovPro article

Federal dollars are finally trickling into broadband stimulus projects, and a few trends are emerging that will serve as the blueprint for the second round of funding — in particular, a preference for private-public partnerships that involve state and local governments and a slant towards fiber projects.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), along with the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program, are granting and loaning $7.2 billion in stimulus money to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas. The first-round recipients will receive $4 billion, but only a fraction has been doled out. Meanwhile, both NTIA and RUS have issued rules for applying for the second round of stimulus money. The deadline is March 15...