Government Awards $795 million in Stimulus Round 2
Posted by Jesse Ward on Tuesday, July 6, 2010 · 
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President Obama announced the first 66 winners in the second funding round of the ARRA broadband stimulus program. The awardees include municipalities, educational institutions and tier 2 and 3 telcos, many of which will fill in fiber “middle mile” gaps in rural communities.
The Obama administration reports that the investment will create 5,000 construction and installation jobs. The release touts these additional benefits:
In total, tens of millions of Americans and over 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities and 2,400 schools in all fifty states stand to benefit from the awards. The $795 million in grants and loans through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have been matched by over $200 million in outside investment, for a total public-private investment of more than $1 billion in bringing broadband service to these communities, most of which currently have little or no access, to help them better compete and do business in the global marketplace.
The awards announced today stem from both agencies administering the broadband stimulus program, the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Services (RUS). The awards will include infrastructure projects and public computing centers.
RUS-funded projects are primarily last-mile projects, and 36 of the 37 announced today include both a grant and loan component. All of the NTIA-funded projects are grant-funded.
For a complete listing of the awardees, see this PDF released by the White House.
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