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: Read more
USDA Reports On Round 1 Stimulus Awards
Posted by Kevin McGuire on Thursday, June 10, 2010 · ·
Yesterday, the USDA unveiled a report called “Connecting Rural America.” This report provides an overview of round one stimulus awards, and helps identify “… how broadband deployment funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) will improve the quality of life of over half a million rural American households.”
In the first round, RUS awarded just over $1 billion for 68 projects in 31 states. The report suggests that the projects will bring broadband service to an estimated 529,249 households, 92,754 businesses and 3,332 anchor institutions across more than 172,000 square miles. It compares the geographical size of the total projects to the state of California. Additionally, the projects will create about 5,000 immediate and direct jobs.
Other report highlights include: Read more
NTIA Reports $11B in Round 2 Broadband Stimulus Applications
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 12, 2010 · ·
NTIA announced last week that it received 867 applications asking for $11 billion in funding in the second round of the agency’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). This is less than half the 1,770 applications the agency received in the first round.
The drop off might be due to change in rules, which prohibit applicants from filing the same project with both NTIA and RUS. Read more
RUS Completes First Round of Stimulus Funding
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, April 5, 2010 · ·
On March 30, RUS announced the final Round One American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) broadband stimulus project.
Reservation Telephone Cooperative was selected to receive a $10.95 million loan and a $10.95 million grant to provide service in the remote and rural areas in and around the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The project will bring broadband service to homes, businesses, schools and libraries. In addition, service will be provided to tribal government facilities which provide tribal child support, education assistance, employment assistance, health care and public safety services on the reservation. The area has experienced poverty rates as high as 28%, and a 40% unemployment rate. Read more
RUS Awards $150 Million to 12 Stimulus Projects
Posted by Jesse Ward on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 · ·
RUS announced March 23 that it has awarded $150 million in Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) funding to 12 projects across eight states. An additional $68.2 million in private investment will be provided in matching funds, bringing the total funds invested to $218.2 million.
To date, RUS has awarded $1.05 billion to construct 67 broadband projects in 30 states and one territory. These latest winners applied in Round One in the broadband stimulus program. Both NTIA and RUS had originally planned to select all first round awards by the end of February and well before the closing of the second round filing window, but they continue to award funds well past the eleventh hour.
A complete list of the March 23 RUS awards on a state-by-state basis is listed below: Read more
RUS Awards $254.6 million to 22 Stimulus Projects
Posted by Jesse Ward on Thursday, March 4, 2010 · (1) ·
RUS announced today the selection of the 22 broadband infrastructure projects in 18 states or territories that will receive broadband stimulus funding. In all, more than $254.6 million will be invested to bring broadband to rural unserved and underserved communities. An additional $13.1 million in private investment will be provided in matching funds.
Congress provided the USDA’s RUS with $2.5 billion in broadband funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. To date, $895.6 million has been provided to support 55 broadband projects in 29 states or territories.
A complete list of new Recovery Act broadband award recipients by state is below: Read more
New Stimulus Grants: NTIA Awards $357M, RUS Awards $277M
Posted by Jesse Ward on Friday, February 19, 2010 · ·
NTIA and RUS recently announced new broadband stimulus grant awards. NTIA announced yesterday 10 new grants, totaling $357 million, for broadband projects in eight states. This is a substantial chunk of the $1.4 billion made available to the organization for distribution in the first broadband stimulus funding round.
The following awards were announced: Read more
