public policy – Page 191 – Steve Blum's Blog

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

Genchowski has an activist agenda for the FCC

7 October 2009 by Steve Blum
4G, att, ctia, fcc, public policy, regulation, wireless broadband

FCC chairman Julius Genachowski delivered the opening keynote at the CTIA IT and Entertainment conference today. He offered good of idea of what he has in store for the industry, and gave us a feeling for who he is.

If you take him at face value, the FCC is going to be the wireless industry’s best friend. And the consumer’s best friend. In fact, everybody’s best friend.

Genchowski unveiled what he called the FCC’s mobile broadband agenda:

1.… 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

When they say shovel ready, they mean real shovels

3 March 2009 by Steve Blum
12seconds.tv, att, Blue Field Strategies, floor64, kerton group, NTIA, public policy, rini coran, RUS, silicon valley telecommunications council, silver springs networks, techdirt, tia

Notes from the Silicon Valley Telecom Council’s Policy Luncheon

The prevailing view amongst the private sector people who have been talking to contacts with the Obama team is that the lion’s share of the broadband money will go to incumbent carriers. “Jobs are created through the existing structures,” was how Mike Masnick put it, quoting a highly placed source in the administration.

Yesterday’s Silicon Valley Telecom Council policy luncheon in Santa Clara was sponsored by AT&T, but big carriers by no means dominated the panel.… More