Officials debated the effectiveness of government grants for spur...

government (CD Jan 16 p5). Broadband stimulus should include tax incentives for higher speeds and capital spending, said Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. Atkinson estimated that tax incentives would inject almost 80 percent of the government’s money into the economy within the first year, double the proportion of grants. But others said it would be harder for the government to direct money using tax credits. “That’s a way to quickly lose the money and not know where the money is going,” said Derek Turner, research director for Free Press. Fortune 500 companies are more likely to use tax credits to increase speeds in markets where they already do business than build into rural areas, said Wally Bowen, founder of the Mountain Area Information Network. “Any CEO who redirects his company’s investment strategy toward markets that aren’t a good fit for that Wall Street business model is putting his career at risk,” he said. Some said the economic stimulus bill isn’t the place to pass major broadband reform. The point of stimulus is to create jobs, and there will be more opportunities in the future to pass broadband reforms, said Debbie Goldman, research economist for the Communication Workers of America. The government’s one goal should be “as much investment in as fast a time as possible,” Atkinson said. Attaching rules to broadband stimulus, as the House has with speed and openness requirements, will discourage investment by major broadband providers, he said. Turner disagreed, saying open access conditions would ensure that the U.S. builds the kind of networks that led to today’s open Internet.