cetf

CPUC on track for broadband consortia funding approval

15 February 2012 by Steve Blum
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It’s not over until it’s over, but it looks like everything is set for seven more regional broadband consortia to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in the morning.

The funding resolution is a consent item, number 11 on the Commission’s agenda. As of close of business today, no one has asked to hold it for a later meeting or move it off of the consent agenda. No revisions have been posted since last Friday, 10 February 2012.… More

Seven more California regional broadband consortia up for funding

5 February 2012 by Steve Blum
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California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff are recommending approval of the remaining seven regional broadband consortia grant requests. The full commission is set to vote on the recommendation at its 16 February 2012 meeting.

In December, the commission funded the first seven of the fifteen applications it received and rejected another that did not meet minimum application requirements. The remaining seven consortia were provisionally endorsed, but told to work with CPUC staff to further develop their proposals, particularly where definitions of deliverables were concerned.… More

Update on California regional broadband grants

9 October 2011 by Steve Blum
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It’s looking like late October or early November for a preliminary decision by the California Public Utilities Commission on the first round of regional broadband consortia grant applications. On that timetable, formal approval by the Commission could come in early or mid-December.

Applications for the initial funding round closed on 22 August 2011, with 15 consortia submitting proposals. Most were for non-overlapping geographic regions. Given that the regional consortia funding kitty can theoretically pay for them all, it’s a good bet that most, perhaps all, will move ahead in the process.… More

Building community broadband: three things that work without stimulus grants

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's interactive web tool
 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

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
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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

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.

Anna Gomez, NTIA
 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

Handicapping the BTOP Derby and the BIP Stakes

12 July 2009 by Steve Blum
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The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) put on a great show in San Francisco on Friday. Hosted by Commissioner Rachelle Chong, and featuring State of California CIO Teri Takai, Susan Walters from the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), and several very well prepared staffers, the workshop covered the essential details you need to know in order to apply for NTIA’s BTOP (Broadband Technology Opportunities Program) grants or RUS’s BIP (Broadband Initiatives Program) money, and to have a hope of getting matching funds from either CPUC via the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) or CETF.… More

Broadband stimulus grants update

3 June 2009 by Steve Blum
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A story making the rounds — and it might even be true — is that the National Institute of Health received 15,000 applications for stimulus grants that it’s administering. Of those, about 400 got funded in the first round. Based on the accelerating interest in the broadband stimulus program, it’s very possible — likely, I think — that we’ll see a similar response.

The broadband stimulus money is still sitting in the pipeline. Latest word is that NTIA will release the grant criteria on 30 June 2009, and allow a month or six weeks for applications to be prepared.… More

Maybe they meant stimulating conversation?

13 March 2009 by Steve Blum
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Following a couple weeks of meetings and conference calls with industry, government and community people, and doing some reading, the broadband portion of the stimulus package isn’t looking so stimulating…

  • The real fight is on now. Lobbying groups are fully engaged as the NTIA determines the scoring criteria it will use. The process will continue over the next two to three weeks. There are more hearings scheduled for Washington, plus two others next week, one in Las Vegas and one in Flagstaff.
… More