Tim Warren

The 20 percent capital expenditure contribution requirement for broadband stimulus applicants will likely include non-cash contributions, such as a spectrum license, land and rights-of-way, said consultant Coleman Bazelon. The principal of the Brattle Group, spoke on a webinar sponsored by that consulting company, the Rural Telecommunications Group and Spectrum Bridge on Wednesday.

Big cities hope some of the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money will go toward fiber-to-the-home technologies rather than wireless or lower-speed connections, according to technology officials from several that plan to make applications. Some cities plan to use broadband plans, put on hold as the recession hit and tax revenue plummeted, in applying for funds.

Judging from past NTIA broadband grant programs, the vast majority of the broadband stimulus money will go to public and non-profit applicants, said former NTIA head Larry Irving during a webinar on Wednesday. Private companies have been most successful in receiving grants in the past by pairing up with local and state governments, he said. By forging public/private partnerships, for-profit companies can more easily demonstrate “public interest,” which is required of companies hoping to cash in on the $4.7 billion in NTIA stimulus funds, he said.

The NTIA and the RUS should auction the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus grants instead of using a conventional application process, a group of 70 economists told the agencies in comments filed Monday, the deadline for suggestions on giving out the money. The economists argued that procurement auctions are a more-efficient way of disbursing the funds than the usual grant process, which they said is “long, complicated and involves subjective and arbitrary decisions.”

The NTIA should look to the lessons of its past grant programs, as the agency moves closer to cementing the rules for disbursing its portion of the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus money, said the Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General in a report Friday.

The NTIA and the RUS should rely on state suggestions on handing out the $7.2 billion in broadband-stimulus money quickly and effectively, speakers said Friday at the NCTA convention in Washington.

Start-up broadband companies will have a tough time getting any of the $7.2 billion in federal money for broadband stimulus, because of strict guidelines and financial background checks, panelists said late Tuesday at the Freedom to Connect conference. Applicants can expect to have to “show the last five years of financials,” said Tom Cohen, a lawyer who represents the Fiber to the Home Council. “What they want to see are real, bona fide providers.”

Network neutrality requirements for NTIA and RUS broadband grants could douse interest in the programs, the Telecommunications Manufacturer Coalition said. It said the “overwhelming majority” of telecom manufacturers oppose network neutrality. The group said in comments filed in the NTIA’s proceeding on grant rules that “a vast body of research” shows investors would be frightened away by the requirement.

Applicants for broadband stimulus money should prepare for strict oversight and audits, as the NTIA and the RUS try to avoid the kinds of embarrassing problems other agencies have recently suffered after handing out billions of federal dollars, a Commerce Department official said Tuesday in Washington. “My first advice is to plan on audits,” said John Bunting, audit manager in the broadband technology opportunities program with the department’s Inspector General.

“The transition to digital will open countless markets,” said Viviane Reding, European Comr. for Information Society & Media at a European Institute lunch Wed. She used the film industry as an example: “The transition has made watching video possible on a growing number of technological platforms.” Reding said she also sees a large opening in the market for broadband providers.