It’s D-Day for broadband stimulus round two | Telecompetitor

Both NTIA and RUS are now accepting applications for the second round of the broadband stimulus program. The program officially opened at 8:00a ET today and applicants have until March 15th to apply. There was some speculation that the D.C. ‘snowmaggedon’ blizzards of the past couple weeks, which shut the federal government down for an unprecedented four days, would delay the opening. But the BroadbandUSA.gov website states everything is on schedule.

There are significant changes between round one and round two of the program. Both the BTOP and BIP programs have issued presentations to summarize the differences (click on BTOP or BIP to access them). The changes to the program came about in part by a request for information (RFI) for suggestions in streamlining the round two process. The government received 225 comments offering suggestions...