More Broadband Grants Awarded as House Moves to Trim Funding

The 66 projects are expected to immediately create 5,000 jobs in construction and installation, and to spur economic development and create additional jobs, Obama said Friday. “The long-term economic gains to communities that have been left behind in the digital age will be immeasurable.” Studies show “that when communities adopt broadband access, it can lead to hundreds of thousands of new jobs,” he said.

The night before, the House voted 239-182 to amend a defense supplemental bill to add domestic spending, paid for in part by taking back nearly a tenth of the broadband funding provided in the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The amended defense bill would take $302 million in broadband funding from NTIA and $300 million from RUS. The measure now moves back to the Senate, which so far has not supported significant additional domestic spending in the defense bill. The House amendment can be viewed at http://xrl.us/waramendment.

While legislators in both houses have criticized the agencies’ speed doling out broadband awards, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has no “regrets” about the broadband award process, he told reporters. “I think we've done this in a very timely way.” Regardless of the legislative threat, RUS is focused on reviewing applications before the agency and working with the $1.5 billion it currently has left, he said. “I don’t see that we're going to slow down at all the pace of activity here.” NTIA is “aware that Congress is debating major spending decisions that could affect a broad range of government activities,” said a spokeswoman. “But we're focused on investing taxpayer dollars wisely through the [Broadband Technology Opportunities Program] as directed."

"War spending must not take precedence over connecting underserved households, schools, health care facilities, and libraries to high-speed Internet service in a time of continued economic difficulty and social inequality,” said Andrew Schwartzman, Media Access Project president. “The $602 million to be reallocated represents a negligible portion of U.S. war spending. But these funds would cover the cost of a large number of broadband infrastructure and adoption projects spanning multiple states."

September Deadline

The latest batch of awards funded projects in 35 states plus the District of Columbia. A $62.5 million grant went to a nationwide project connecting more than 30 existing research and educational networks. Iowa won the most money, totaling $69.8 million in grants and loans for projects exclusively in there plus an additional $20 million for a project in the state and Missouri. Other big winners included Georgia with $48.5 million, Massachusetts’s $45.4 million, and New Hampshire’s $44.5 million plus $12.3 million for a project covering Vermont and New York.

NTIA funded 17 middle-mile projects and 12 public computer centers. RUS focused on last-mile projects, awarding 33 last-mile projects and only four middle-mile projects.

The two agencies in cases fund separate but complementary projects near each other, said NTIA Administrator Lawrence Strickling said. The Commerce Department has focused on middle mile projects, said Secretary Gary Locke, while Vilsack said Agriculture tends toward last-mile projects. “We're really excited about the progress we're making,” Locke said. The projects will allow local governments, nonprofits and businesses to bring broadband to 5.4 million households and nearly 700,000 businesses, he said.

Strickling’s “pretty confident” the agency will fund projects in all states, he said. It’s already reached every one with a broadband mapping grant, he said. RUS has $2 billion in Recovery Act funds remaining and Commerce has $2.5 billion. Locke said the department hopes to allocate the remainder of the funds by the end of September.

RUS funded 37 new projects, using $390.9 million of Recovery Act resources, Vilsack said. That leaves it about $1.5 billion to be doled out, which is worth $2 billion with matching funds, he said. More awards will be made later this summer, and RUS intends to finish giving out money by the Sept. 30 deadline set by the Recovery Act, he said.

"These Recovery Act projects are an important investment in our broadband future,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “Connecting all Americans to the benefits of broadband will create jobs, spur economic opportunity, and drive U.S. global leadership in innovation."

Rural incumbent ISPs are checking whether any of the money goes to areas already served by broadband, said Paul Raak, vice president of the Independent Telephone and Telecommunications Alliance. “With the funding deadline rapidly approaching, it’s our hope that RUS will focus the remaining stimulus funds on approving last mile, unserved rural applications that will stimulate private sector investment, versus awarding applications that will fund redundant and duplicative networks that are unnecessary and compromise taxpayer dollars."

"This is a phenomenal first step toward achieving the goal of universal broadband,” said Chairman Julius Hollis of the Alliance for Digital Equality. “But there is an overwhelming need that remains and that must also be addressed. Unfortunately, the government cannot fulfill this need by itself. It will take a new, bold strategy that creates a regulatory framework that incites private sector investment and ensures affordable broadband prices.” Reclassifying broadband transport under Title II of the Communications Act would hinder affordable access, he said.