Broadband stimulus fund winners “benefitted from unseasonably mild winter weather” from...

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In the quarter, BTOP recipients deployed more than 16,000 network miles of plant, bringing the total to 45,196 miles, NTIA said. That means NTIA has already reached 90 percent of its FY2012 deployment goal of 50,000 new or upgraded miles across the country, the agency said. “NTIA expects the pace of network construction to remain strong in coming quarters as most recipients are fully submersed in the implementation phase of the project,” the agency said. “NTIA anticipates that recipients will increase the pace of deployment activities as they receive regular shipments of fiber from manufacturers and finalize make-ready work with utility pole owners.” Also in the quarter, BTOP recipients connected or improved service to 2,211 community anchor institutions, bringing the total number of institutions to 6,374, NTIA said. That’s nearly 64 percent of NTIA’s FY2012 goal of 10,000 institutions. In the quarter, BTOP recipients said their training and adoption programs increased the number of broadband subscriber households and businesses by 50,000, NTIA said. Through December, the recipients reported adoption by 259,446 households and 1,276 businesses, it said. NTIA reached 74 percent of its FY2012 goal to attain 350,000 new subscribers. BTOP recipients reported spending more than $415 million of federal grant funds in the quarter, matched by $145 million in recipient funds. The amount of federal spending in the quarter increased 55 percent from the previous quarter, NTIA said. Total federal spending has been $1.2 billion, the agency said. NTIA continues to review potential duplication of federally funded infrastructure, it said. As of Dec. 31, 92 percent of instances of potential overlap between a BTOP award and another BTOP, Broadband Initiatives Program or FCC award “were resolved or determined to be not applicable,” NTIA said.