[Infowarrior] - Obama Broadband Plan Short on Details

[Richard Forno]

Obama Broadband Internet Plan Short on Details, First Wave of Grants  
In April

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2009/03/obama_broadband_internet_plan.html?wprss=posttech 
?hpid=sec-tech

The Obama administration yesterday unveiled the first steps of its  
plan to pour $8 billion into the construction of new broadband  
Internet networks around the nation. And while many details haven't  
been finalized on how the stimulus money will be spent and who will  
qualify for the grants, interest in the high-speed Internet plan was  
high.

Long lines stretched outside the Commerce Department building, where  
the three federal agencies in charge of the broadband stimulus plan  
hosted the first of seven public meetings. Lobbyists,  
telecommunications service providers from as far as Arizona and  
community organizers from Seattle stood in lines that stretched  
outside the building. They later filled the 400-person auditorium and  
two overflow rooms.

"I don't think we've had this many people in the Commerce Department  
since it was built," said Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, associate  
administrator of the department's telecommunications policy office,  
the National Telecommunications & Information Administration.

The NTIA said it plans to have three rounds of funding for broadband  
grants, with the first funds available as early as next month through  
June. The grants must be awarded by Sept. 30, 2010, and the government  
must ensure projects are mostly complete within two years. Applicants  
must also show the project would not have occurred but for the  
stimulus funding.

Obama has touted the stimulus provision for broadband Internet  
networks as a way to generate jobs right away; workers will be needed  
to dig more trenches to lay down fiber and put up more cell towers.  
He's also focused on broadband as a key to creating valuable high- 
paying jobs in the future that can help lift troubled economies.

"Without ubiquitous broadband, our citizens -- our country -- will  
lack the competitive tools necessary for success in the 21st century,"  
said Michael Copps, acting chairman of the Federal Communications  
Commission.

For carriers and consumers, the funds represent a potential business  
boon amid the economic drought that has dried up credit markets to  
fund new projects.

The three agencies in charge of broadband plans include the NTIA,  
which will oversee $4.7 billion in stimulus funds. The U.S. Department  
of Agriculture will distribute $2.5 billion in grants and loans. The  
FCC has been given $350 million to create a better data collection  
system with a mapping program showing what services are provided in  
every geography of the nation. The FCC is also supposed to come up  
with a plan within one year to bring broadband Internet to all  
Americans. The remainder of the $8 billion will go to administration  
costs, subsidy programs for low-income users, and audits of the grants.

But before doling out the money, the agencies said they will host a  
series of public meetings to get comments about how best to implement  
the program. The next meetings in Washington D.C. will be March 16,  
19, 23 and 24. Field hearings will be held on March 17 and 18,  
respectively.

Mark Seifert, a senior adviser for the NTIA said the agency decided to  
host the public meetings after receiving more than 2,000 requests for  
private meetings from telecom companies and other interested parties.

At the hearings and on the NTIA's public comments Web site, interested  
parties can make recommendations. The stimulus plan was broadly worded  
in a way that can include wireless, fiber optic and cable networks and  
the agencies said they will take into consider which technologies make  
the most sense from an economic and technological perspective for the  
area served.