New Broadband Projects Asked to Make Most of Stimulus Lessons in Lieu of U.S. Money
BOSTON -- Success stories of broadband projects that received federal money should be shared widely with those who seek to start new efforts, because Congress may not set aside additional money to support them, a funder and recipients of stimulus awards agreed Friday. It will be “a challenge expanding this beyond the federal money,” said NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling. Hurdles can be overcome by understanding what worked in projects that got federal subsidies, he said. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act set aside $7 billion for the NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service to help pay for broadband projects.
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"The likelihood that we will see additional federal government funding” for these kinds of broadband deployment “in the future is very small,” Strickling said on a panel he moderated at the National Conference for Media Reform. He advised learning how to expand Internet service “without federal dollars.” For now the NTIA is “focused almost single-mindedly on overseeing the construction and completion of these projects,” he said. The agency is managing about 230 broadband stimulus grants totaling about $4 billion, Strickling noted.
Panelists sought ways to disseminate their experiences widely. If the NTIA “can turn not into a funding mechanism but an aggregation center” for information on what works, that will help others, said Director Judy Dumont of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. The agency’s stimulus tracker said it got $6.2 million from NTIA for broadband data and development. “We also need to make sure that we're getting the metrics down, so that we can catalyze and incent this investment,” Dumont said. The institute, set up in 2008 under a state broadband law, is helping map high-speed Internet service in Massachusetts and has made its own grants. For Gov. Deval Patrick, expanding broadband service “is one of his top priorities,” said Dumont, an appointee of the Democratic governor.
"Integration” and “marketing” of what works must be improved, including by the federal government, said Vice President Laura Efurd of ZeroDivide. It got $1.4 million from the NTIA for what the agency called “sustainable adoption.” Detroit “offers lessons for the rest of the country,” because what works there, with modest resources, “can work anywhere,” said Co-Director Jenny Lee of Allied Media Projects. The organization is part of a coalition that said it got $2 million in broadband stimulus funds for the city. Many communities “need good infrastructure” for broadband, something that training residents can’t fully remedy, said Director Bryan Mercer of the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia.