NTIA – Page 2 – Steve Blum's Blog

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

Best Practices Highlight Wireless Broadband Feasibility Study for the City of Oakland

13 May 2010 by Steve Blum
ARRA, broadband, broadband stimulus, BTOP, business model, feasibility study, Google broadband, municipal broadband, NTIA, Oakland

Download the Oakland Wireless Feasibility Study

Like nearly every government agency in California, the City of Oakland was faced with increasing demand for public services and a decreasing budget. An evaluation was needed of the potential for wireless technology to make municipal staff more efficient and allow them to stay in the field longer, and to provide Internet service to residents, either directly in their homes and businesses or indirectly through community anchor institutions. This evaluation needed to focus specifically on Oakland’s diverse population, needs and terrain.… 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

First dribble of broadband stimulus funding announced

17 December 2009 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, NTIA, public policy, rural broadband, RUS

The feds today announced they were giving $182.7 million of broadband stimulus money to 18 projects scattered across the U.S. (but nothing so far for California). 18 projects funded out of 2,200 applications, representing less than 3% of the $7.2 billion allocated.

Not much detail but a few worrisome hints.

The infrastructure grants announced today all appear to be for RUS/BIP-type projects. Even the ones that were funded through NTIA/BTOP. That’s consistent with what we heard back in September: a select few RUS projects were fastracked into the second stage of review.… 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

Handicapping the BTOP Derby and the BIP Stakes

12 July 2009 by Steve Blum
ARRA, BIP, broadband stimulus, BTOP, cetf, cpuc, NTIA, RUS

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
broadband stimulus, cetf, NTIA, public policy, rural broadband

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
att, broadband stimulus, cetf, fcc, NTIA, public policy, RUS, verizon

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