casf – Page 58 – Steve Blum's Blog

Final CPUC regional broadband consortia grant documents released

28 June 2011 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, regional consortia

The California Public Utilities Commission posted the final versions of the application documents for the broadband consortia grant program approved last week. The final documents are posted on the community broadband resources page of my website:

https://www.tellusventure.com/community/resources/

CPUC hasn’t posted a hard deadline for submissions yet, but it’s supposed to be 60 days after the effective date of the decision. That date was 23 June, so adding 60 days to that means a presumed deadline of 22 August 2011.

CPUC approves regional broadband consortia grant program

23 June 2011 by Steve Blum
casf, cpuc, regional consortia

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved specific grant requirements today for the regional broadband consortia program established last year by Senate Bill 1040. The grants are funded through the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Qualifying regional consortia can apply for up to $150,000 in funding for each of three years ($450,000 total). Applications are due on 23 August 2011. The decision authorizing regional consortia grants, establishing eligibility and setting out application requirements and procedures is available here, along with supporting CPUC documents.

Policies, partnerships and common goals attract broadband investment to communities

7 June 2010 by Steve Blum
business, capital cost, casf, community networks, operating cost, private capital, public policy, public private partnership, revenue, RUS

Capital expense, operating expense and revenue are the basic parameters of a business plan. With broadband-specific incentives that improve those metrics – even marginally – local governments and economic development agencies can attract private broadband investment into underserved areas.

Public policies can be tailored to significantly reduce construction costs. Uniform, broadband-friendly right of way and permit procedures eliminate a huge source of uncertainty for business planners. The more certain they are of their estimates, the more likely they are to invest.… More

Getting back to business with broadband investment

6 June 2010 by Steve Blum
business, casf, community networks, demand, microeconomic, need, NTIA, private capital, public policy, rural utilities service, RUS

The federal stimulus program overshadowed private sector funding for new broadband infrastructure for more than a year. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) threatened to wash out broadband venture opportunities with billions of dollars of grants and loans. Some projects will absorb federal money instead of private risk capital. Most won’t and the surviving opportunities will become evident over the next few months.

Price points, service benchmarks and likelihood
to buy are key data for revenue projectionsLocal agencies and economic development organizations still have the job of attracting that investment.… More

Building community broadband: three things that work without stimulus grants

15 May 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, cetf, cpuc, CSU Chico, CSU Humbolt, rural broadband, SEDCorp, sierra economic development corporation

The California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF) has funded several regional broadband consortia in northern and central California. At its third annual Rural Connections workshop in Redding this week, representatives from six groups presented the results of their work over the past couple of years. Two, covering California’s Gold Country and Redwood Coast, stood out as having made genuine progress toward bringing Silicon Valley-grade Internet service to areas that are otherwise off the broadband map.

Gold Country Connect provides prospective investors
with broadband planning toolsBrent Smith, CEO of Sierra Economic Development Corporation, and Connie Stewart from Humboldt State University had success stories to tell.… More

The stimulus was fun while it lasted, now back to work

14 May 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, ccbc, cetf, Jonathan Adelstein, NTIA, public policy, rural broadband, RUS

It’s time to look past the stimulus program, and re-adjust community broadband planning assumptions. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the Rural Utilities Service’s (RUS) Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) encouraged local groups to roll themselves up into regional alliances and propose magnificent projects that would meet any conceivable need and serve every user imaginable.

It made sense, because that’s where the money was. NTIA and RUS made some dreams real in the first round last year, and are on track to fulfill a few more fantasies in the second round.… More

Follow the money, from the first to the second round of broadband stimulus grants

18 January 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, ccbc, cetf, NTIA, public policy, rural broadband, RUS

More than a thousand first round hopefuls are still staring into the black hole that swallowed their applications. The second round notifications of funding availability (NOFAs) issued by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for the broadband stimulus program do not explicitly address the status of first round applications.

The stimulus bill gave RUS $2.5 billion and NTIA $4.7 billion for broadband project funding. In the first round, RUS said it would give out up to $2.4 billion.… More

Broadband stimulus grant update: first round still under review, second round likely to slip a bit

7 January 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, ccbc, CES2019, cetf, NTIA, public policy, rural broadband, RUS

Anna Gomez, deputy assistant secretary for communications and information at NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), spoke at today’s Tech Policy Summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Secretary Gomez speaks to reporters
at 2010 Consumer Electronics ShowShe repeated previous agency comments about wanting to “get it done fast, get it done right and with the greatest effect possible.”

She described the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) as “unprecedented” at the NTIA.

Lessons learned in a difficult first round would be applied in the second round.… More

CPUC Approves $5 Million for central California coast broadband project

23 November 2009 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, ccbc, cpuc, NTIA, RUS

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved a $4,975,009 grant from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) to the Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) on Friday, 20 November 2009. The grant pays for 10% of the approximately $50 million fiber optic trunk line network planned for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties on California’s central coast.

CCBC system map
CCBC’s CASF and associated federal stimulus grant applications are managed by Tellus Venture Associates, which also does the financial planning and budgeting for the project.… More

Two big endorsements for major Central Coast broadband project

26 October 2009 by Steve Blum
broadband stimulus, BTOP, casf, ccbc, cpuc, csumb, NTIA

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff have signed off on a 428 mile fiber optic trunk project for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties on California’s Central Coast. These approvals make it more likely that the project will receive federal stimulus money through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

The Central Coast Broadband Consortium (CCBC) applied for grants to the CPUC’s California Advanced Services Fund and BTOP in August.… More