As major telcos ponder whether broadband stimulus funds are worth the strings attached, a diverse group of other grant applicants are moving forward with their own bids to win federal funds, including a large number of local and regional governments.
In northern New Mexico (Qwest and Windstream territory), a group of electric utilities, colleges, counties and municipalities (as well as possibly an Indian pueblo or two) are teaming up to propose a regional fiber network that would be publicly owned with capacity leased to private companies. Officials of Otsego County, New York, are looking for nearly $10 million for their own fiber network. [4/14 UPDATE: Even Palo Alto, Calif., is reviving its long-frustrated dreams of fiber.]
The New Mexico project is consistent with the advice federal administrators have given that grant applicants pool their resources to submit large-scale projects. In fact, those in New Mexico are wondering if a statewide proposal would be better than the regional one. In Ohio, representatives of the state’s Appalachian southeast corners are talking to the governor about maximizing their efforts. But as anyone with experience in multi-city projects can attest to, finding consensus on anything becomes harder as the number of cooks in the kitchen grows.
There’s been some discussion about whether the Bells are bluffing about skipping broadband stimulus, just based on the simple notion that turning down free money is crazy in any context. But in addition to whatever net neutrality conditions come with these prizes, it’s also true that broadband stimulus is largely focused on rural areas, and in the long run, that’s not where AT&T and Verizon want to be.
However, the rest of the private sector is teeming with companies hoping to get their share of federal grants. Level 3 Communications, for example, is partnering with WiMax provider Open Range Communications to get a piece of the broadband stimulus pie.
Meanwhile, in space…(man, I’ve always wanted a chance to write that), WildBlue Communications is hoping to land stimulus money to launch a new satellite that will offer faster rural broadband speeds. The company has joined forces with its competitors Hughes Networks and Inmarsat to convince federal officials of the virtues of satellites to boost rural broadband, but the feds have already voiced their openness to the sector. At the first public meeting of broadband stimulus administrators in March, Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, associate administrator for the NTIA (with the USDA, one of the two groups distributing stimulus finds), said in response to a question, “Particularly in some of the unserved areas, [satellite] will be a very attractive sort of application.”
To help decipher some of the process of attaining stimulus funds, Telephony is holding a Webinar on April 15 for which you can register here.
I belive the federal government should mandate a FTTP solution by 201X. I would balance the playing rules, force the companies to begin to compete again on service vs. legacy technology decisions (coaxial/copper in the last mile), provde the FCC a vehicle to deal with some sticky issues (carrier of last resort, inter-carrier compensation, and promote competition to remove legacy rate payer tariffs), and support the global economy with the best in clase infrastructure to support voice, video, and data services .
Working on an FCC grant, I was involved in the DTV [analog-digital-TV-transition] covering a few east coast states. Rural America can’t even get ‘free’ off air signal unless they purchase a good outside UHF/VHF antenna, then it’s ususally only a couple channels. A great deal of our senior citizens, on fixed income, could not afford the antenna’s. I only hope that no matter what or how we finally service rural ameria, that it’s affordable, Otherwise-it’s a waste of time and funds. Gary Ogden DBA: Micro Network Service Group 740-317-4717
Vermont has been planning a robust backhaul network for almost a year. Backhaul is very expensive, there is no loop in what does exist and in many parts of the state there is absolutely no infrastructuae. Consumers use dialup or sattelite.
We had to design a way to change the rules. The power companies need connectivity to an electric substation in every town in the state to begin “smart” management of their power networks. They then need connectivity to every business and home so that the consumers can also become “smart” managers of their usage. The Vermont Telecommunicaitons Authority is mandated to assure that every one in the state has at least 1.5 meg of scalable Internet access and at least one mobile phone network by the end of 2010. Municipal and regional carriers need affordable redundant access. The State of Vermont needs a less expensive backhaul network and the school districts need robust access. None of these entities can afford to bring fiber out to remote areas alone….but together they can. They had formed a consortium before the stimulus money was available. They planned to use the $40 million in revenue bonding authority that the Vermont Legislature gave the Telecom Authority to leverage the other money needed. Selling bonds in this market is however now a challenge.
Today with the new Stimulus money the consotrium is planning to not only build the backhaul network using the existing fiber of service providers and by filling in the holes but then extend out closer to the endusers by subsidizing the existing service providers.
And the Telecom Authority will need to build approx. 200 cell sites. Some will be existing sturctures like silos and church steeples but the majority will be residential wind turbines with small cell radios and antennae on them. Land owners will receive the turbines at no or very little cost and be able to take advanatage of the “net metering”..the meter running backward. The Telecom Authority and service provider will take the revenue from the mobile voice and data and pay back their debt eventually possibly sharing some of the revenue with landowners.
The consortium plans to use the $40 million for the match to the federal funds that will most likely be needed.
Another group is drafting a plan to improve the “take rate.” Studies show that in many areas the take rates are between 20-30%. Activities will be multi pronged and aimed at lowering the barriers that lower income families have to adoption.
Together the state, electric companis, service providers, towns and non profits in the state will bring Vermont’s most rural areas into the 21st century.