Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
By Lou Carlozo, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com
CHICAGO, November 18, 2009 - One striking sentiment dominated this week’s convention of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners: The federal government remains on nearly as steep a learning curve on crafting the future of broadband as many state agencies, and the best work ahead will likely get done when public and private concerns team up.
“Of course more needs to be done, and they’re still learning [in Washington] how to reliably and effectively get the funds out,” said David Svanda of Svanda Consulting in Clarksville, Md., and a past president of NARUC.
“It’s an ongoing learning process, and they clearly have their feelers out to learn more,” said Svanda. “I think they’ll take very seriously what they hear here. You couldn’t have two better people on the case.”
By “they,” Svanda meant Larry Strickling, of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and Jonathan Adelstein, of the Rural Utility Service.
These two key Obama administration broadband players have only been on the job only since the summer: the Senate confirmed Strickling in June, and Adelstein in July.
They have their hands full intrying to figure out how to distribute $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding by September 2010.
Are Strickling...
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Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 - In a report to Congress, the NTIA said Wednesday that it won’t conclude doling out the first round of broadband stimulus funding until February 2010.
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration clarified in its third quarterly progress report to Congress this week that it will be dolling out the entirety of the grant money during the next ten months.
The year 2010 is going to be a busy time for the period for both the NTIA and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities is the other agency, the two government entities charged with distributing $7.2 billion of federal funding.
“NTIA will not conclude the first round of BTOP funding at the end of 2009 as originally targeted, but is on course to do so in February 2010,”
states the report (PDF).
NTIA and RUS announced this month that they will limit the remaining grant awards to one more round of funding, which they write in the report “will begin early in 2010.”
All stimulus funding for the broadband initiatives must be distributed by September 30, 2010, according to a statutory deadline set by Congress.
The broadband projects awarded grants must be substantially completed...
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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
By Lou Carlozo, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com
CHICAGO, November 17, 2009 - 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.
The first rounds dished out by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Rural Utilities Service (RUS) won’t nearly match the demand, though. With 2,200 applications on file, Washington would need many times the available funding. “It’s just stunning the creativity and industriousness in these proposals,” said Lawrence Strickling, NTIA’s director. “It’s sad we don’t have the money to fund them all; we were oversubscribed seven times.”
The good news is that the NTIA and RUS have a request for information (RFI) out, with a November 30...
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 10, 2009 - The two government entities charged with distributing $7.2 billion to expand broadband deployment and adoption said Tuesday they are officially seeking public feedback on how to effectively get the funds to the applicants who should be receiving them.
The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service were assigned by Congress in January to administer the program but no awardees have yet to be named.
On Tuesday
RUS and NTIA said they planned to award the funding in just two rounds to increase efficiency and better accommodate applicants.
A statement from the agencies noted that the first round of the grant and loan programs produced about 2,200 applications requesting nearly $28 billion in funding, which is almost seven times the amount of funding available at this time.
Though NTIA originally intended to start announcing grant recipients in November, Larry Strickling, head of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said in late October that the program has been
falling behind.
Currently, the agencies do not anticipate announcing the first broadband stimulus grants until at least mid-December but will then announce more awardees on a rolling...
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Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
By Mercy Gakii, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 28, 2009 - Assistant Secretary of Commerce Lawrence Strickling said Wednesday that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will work to apply the lessons from the first round as it moves on to the next phase of broadband stimulus applications.
“The NTIA and RUS are finalizing a new request for information that will help us shape the round two process,” Strickling said, testifying before the House Small Business Committee. He also said that at least 15 percent of the applications for stimulus funding came from small and disadvantaged businesses.
He added that the agency’s request for information will solicit the public’s views on how the first round worked for applicants and what changes and clarifications should be made for the second round.
Strickling touted the role that broadband plays for rural communities, and also for small businesses. “If you are a small business owner without access to high-speed internet, you are effectively operating with one hand tied behind your back,” Strickling said.
He said that application process involves giving additional points to applications from economically disadvantaged businesses, and those who have collaborated with them.
Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the Agriculture Department, said that 36...
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Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, October 27, 2009 - Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation raised concerns Tuesday about getting broadband stimulus funds out to remote areas and how these areas should be defined.
The discussion took place during an oversight hearing on the process of awarding out the $7.2 billion provided to the federal government by Congress to expand broadband deployment and adoption.
The agencies responsible for administering the stimulus funds are the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s and the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. John "Jay" Rockefeller, D-W.V., both raised concerns about defining remote areas and making sure the funding is getting to the underserved areas in need. Jonathan Adelstein, administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the Department of Agriculture, outlined the problem in his prepared testimony.
“[W]e have seen applicants struggle to comply with the requirements of the “remote” definition for last-mile rural remote programs,” Adelstein said.“We are contemplating major revisions that will continue to target highly-rural areas that are difficult to serve while making it easier for applicants to comply with any new definition we may establish.”
He added that they have seen “some applicants encounter...
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Friday, September 18th, 2009
Editor’s Note: BroadbandCensus.com extends the invitation to broadband observers and experts to offer thoughts on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s broadband stimulus grant process. Craig Settles, a broadband business strategist, marketing expert at Successful.com, offered this commentary. To submit a commentary, please e-mail: commentary@broadbandcensus.com.
By Craig Settles, Guest Commentary, BroadbandCensus.com
With those words, Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling, head of NTIA, enables many applicants and others worried about the NOFA’s incumbent challenge clause breathe a little easier. And
for those of us who’ve railed against this potentially destructive clause , there is also a bit of satisfaction for not giving up the fight.
Mr. Strickling and Jonathan Adelstein, Administrator for RUS,
were responding to questions from the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology & the Internet when Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (CA) pushed for answers about the clause. “I want to make sure there’s competition. If the incumbents can just knock out people because they don’t want any to come in, I don’t really think that’s the way for us to go.”
Mr. Strickling gave a reassuring response from both gentlemen and a clearer picture of how this process will run.
Applications with infrastructure proposals have proposed to cover...
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Thursday, August 27th, 2009
By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, August 27, 2009 – Nearly 2,200 applications were submitted for federal funding from the federal government’s broadband stimulus program, seeking $27.6 billion in funding, out of $4.3 billion that is available, said the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Rural Utilities Service.
“Applicants requested nearly seven times the amount of funding available, which demonstrates the substantial interest in expanding broadband across the nation," said Lawrence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator of NTIA, which is part of the Commerce Department.
"We will move quickly but carefully to fund the best projects to bring broadband and jobs to more Americans,” he said.
"The overwhelming response we received underscores the extensive interest in expanding broadband across the country,” said Jonathan Adelstein, Administrator of RUS, which is part of the Agriculture Department.
“Rural communities clearly recognize that broadband can expand their economic opportunities and create jobs," Adelstein said. “The Obama Administration’s goal is to target funds to serve areas of greatest need. The big demand for loans as well as grants demonstrates that we can leverage private investment with USDA's $2.5 billion to deliver the greatest bang for the taxpayers' buck."
Of the $4.3 billion available in this round, RUS...
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