May

19

Broadband Stimulus: Initial Details Released.

sascha's picture

Initial details regarding the actual parameters of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) are finally beginning to be released. The information is rather limited, but here's what we can glean thus far from the Recovery.gov website:

  • Applications for the first wave of funding requests are going to be due[released by] June 30, 2009 (to be awarded in December 2009). This is remarkably short notice to turn around a well thought out proposal -- especially since the details of what these proposals should actually look like haven't been released.
  • The second wave of funding requests will be from October to December, 2009.
  • The third wave will take place from April to June 2010.
  • All awards must be made by September 2010.
  • $350 million will be available for broadband mapping.
  • $250 million will be avialable to encourage sustainable broadband adoption.
  • $200 million will be available to increase public computer center capacity.
  • The key metrics for measuring success (and thus, evaluating the competitiveness of each grant application) look to be:
      Jobs created
      Census tracks served
      Homes/businesses passed
      Investment funding ARRA leverages
      New equipment/capacity/users of the network

Hopefully, more information will be release soon as this info is woefully incomplete. In the interim, many of us continue to search for insight into what NTIA and RUS have planned regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

If you have more info, please let me know.

Tags:
»
  1. Ben West (not verified) on Fri, 2009-05-22 15:48

    Although I admit to bias on the subject, the only way I can see this sort of broadband expansion occuring on schedule is to indiscriminately scatter mesh-wireless devices throughout the target coverage areas.  Indeed, treat the devices as the semi-disposable, sub-$50 plastic toys they are.  In the interest of sustainability, most of the stimulus funds should go into installing fiber uplinks for the mesh concentration points.

    The mesh devices should be very very simple, a la 1st generation FON, maybe just 802.11b radio, self-configuring, and loaded with firmware that has been actually been tested in the field.  There is really neither the time or the justiciation for using funding opportunities like this to further anyone's software development project.  Just take what works right now.

    Also, the mesh devices will likely go obsolete within a couple years due to some combination of WiMax, 802.11n, or 802.11s, which is why you want to dedicate most of the funding to the high-speed uplinks.

    2. Post new comment

    The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
    • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

    More information about formatting options