isen.blog

There's been a lot written in the last seven days since President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on the $7.2 Billion allocated to deployment of broadband connections to the Internet.

For starters, it's best to get it from the Horse's Mouth, i.e., Whitehouse.Gov, where the relevant parts of the text of the Act [.pdf, 13.4 MB] are pages 4-5, 14, and 398-402.

In addition, there are several really good summaries on line.

This one, from Ian Littman at the U Colorado Ore Digger, right near the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where President Obama signed the Act, is quirky but most excellent.

This one, by Harold Feld, focusses on the bigger picture. Harold writes,

The question is not “regulate” or “deregulate,” nor is the goal so narrow as simply building infrastructure. The stimulus bill embraces the idea of a “broadband ecology” in which we — as a matter of public policy — value broadband for its transformative effect rather than for its consumer value and place it within the communities we hope to positively transform.

Joan Engbretson, writing in Telephony Online, emphasizes how fast the money will be disbursed . . .

Phillip Brown, national policy director for Connected Nation . . . [says], “We’re hearing that if people are planning to apply [for the $2.5B in RUS funds], they should be ready to go by May first.” However, Engbretson reports, [Entities] "may have a bit longer to prepare to seek a portion of the remaining $4.7 billion in grants that legislators allocated for broadband. That money will be administered through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a division of the Commerce Department, which must award all funds by September 30, 2010."

But don't miss the systematic, thoughtful and synoptic summary by Jim Baller and Casey Lide here [.pdf, 7 pages]. Not only do Baller and Lide lay out the major points of the Act, but they also point out that therr are lots of other opportunities in the Act for broadband build-out. They write:

. . . the Act includes a vast amount of funding in areas that may produce opportunities for creative partnerships to facilitate broadband development:

• Transportation infrastructure funds: (approx. $46.5B) Highway/rail/transit infrastructure improvements may provide fresh opportunities to deploy broadband facilities in rights of way. Significant funding for high speed rail and intercity rail projects. Generally administered by state Departments of Transportation.

• Public housing infrastructure: (approx. $12B) Funds to local public housing agencies to
rehabilitate public housing, and neighborhood stabilization, could provide opportunity to address
connectivity issues, community computing centers, etc.

• Energy efficient housing retrofits: ($0.25B) Competitive grants to upgrade HUD low-income
housing to increase energy efficiency. Broadband could enable smart meters and smart homes.

• School construction: ($21B) For renovation, modernization, energy efficiency, and technology
improvements. Includes $6B for higher education institutions.

• Smart Grid Investment Program: ($11B) For R&D and pilot projects to modernize electricity
grid.

• Health Information Technology: ($19B) For widespread adoption and use of interoperable
health information technology, including e-health records, etc.

There's more, lots more, but that'll be in a different post.

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