Federal broadband stimulus program bolsters CA's broadband industry

(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- At an open meeting hosted last week by high-capacity fiber-optic equipment provider Infinera (www.infinera.com) at its Sunnyvale, California, headquarters, state officials and leaders from the broadband industry expressed high hopes that the federal broadband stimulus program would have a significant impact on broadband availability and the industry in the months ahead.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 directed $7.2 billion of government funds for broadband and wireless Internet access to unserved and underserved communities across the US. Infinera co-founder and chief marketing and strategy officer Dave Welch called on the federal government to ensure that broadband policy encourages competition, praising the proposed Broadband Deployment Conduit Act as an enabler of more competition and more cost-effective broadband networks...