Broadband

Federal Broadband Stimulus Funds to Come in as Soon as Three Weeks (Broadband Census 11/17/09)

As the 121st meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners kicked off Tuesday, the usual presentations on energy efficiency, commodities and electrical grid jiggering couldn’t match the drama and dilemma surrounding a topic that didn’t even exist a few decades ago: the future of broadband, and broadband stimulus money in particular. That’s a $7.2 billion question—that number representing the amount of money federal agencies can deploy before September 2010. And the good news coming from three key federal players is that the money will start coming to states as soon as early next month, with grants rolling out through early 2010.

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U.S.' $7.2-Billion Broadband Stimulus Program Risks Waste and Fraud, GAO Says (LA Times 11/17/09)

Federal programs to bring broadband Internet service to areas without it lack basic information and adequate safeguards to ensure that the money isn’t wasted, a new government report said. The Commerce and Agriculture departments were given $7.2 billion to expand U.S. broadband availability as part of last February’s federal stimulus package. But they have been scrambling to review a crush of grant and loan applications while facing tight deadlines to distribute the money, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Monday.

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Read "RECOVERY ACT: Agencies Are Addressing Broadband Program Challenges, but Actions Are Needed to Improve Implementation"Â

House Small Business Committee Backs Focus on Broadband Funding For Remote Areas (Broadcasting & Cable, 11/17/09)

The cable industry has found allies in the chair and ranking members of the House Small Business Committee in its push to get the government to focus broadband stimulus money on areas where there is no broadband access. In a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which are soliciting comments on ways to improve the stimulus fund bidding process, Committee Chair Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and ranking member Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), wrote: "It is the Committee's recommendation that funds should be targeted to areas which are first "unserved" and only then to "underserved" areas, if funding remains."

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Rewiring an Old Fund for Rural Broadband (Daily Yonder 11/16/09)

The Universal Service Fund, set up 75 years ago to get phone service to rural communities, may extend funding to rural broadband and other new media. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) have drafted legislation to reform the Universal Service Fund (USF), a program that collects money from telecommunications companies and distributes it to communications programs in underserved areas. Boucher and Terry want to divert a portion of this nearly $7 billion fund to support broadband projects in rural areas.

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Lawmakers Say Broadband Grants Should Be More Accessible To Small Firms (The Hill 11/17/09)

House members are calling for a simplified application and review process for small businesses applying for broadband stimulus grants. House Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia M. Velazquez (D-NY) and ranking member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) sent a letter today to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utility Service asking for barriers to be lowered for smaller firms vying for broadband funds. NTIA Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling and RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein testified before the committee last month and were asked to address some of the complaints of small businesses trying to navigate the application process.

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FCC broadband planners to outline hurdles to universal access (Washington Post 11/17/09)

There’s not enough spectrum for mobile broadband. A federal fund for phone service needs to be repurposed to include broadband. Consumers should be told the truth about the Internet access speeds they pay for. These are the problems identified by the Federal Communications Commission as obstacles in its effort to blanket the country with high-speed Internet service.

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Comments Submitted to the FCC in Response to the Berkman Center Broadband Study (week of 11/16/09)

*Free Press Supports the Berkman Study

*Comptel Backs the Study

*NATOA Supports the Study

*USTelecom Argues Berkman Study Flawed

*AT&T Says Berkman Center Report is neither comprehensive nor competent

Communities

Seattle Releases Report on Residents' Technology Use (Government Technology 11/18/09)

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Councilmember Bruce Harrell yesterday released the results of a new city study on computer and Internet use by Seattle residents. The 2009 Information Technology Access and Adoption Report finds that almost 84 percent of households have Internet and 74 percent have higher speed services, mostly through cable and dsl. The survey also found a greater interest in mobile and personalized services, as well as even faster broadband, though residents are concerned with the cost of service.

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