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Stimulus: Where we’ve been, where we (should be) going and predictions
Now that the first round of broadband stimulus funding applications are in, it’s time to take a breather – and time to consider what might lie ahead in the next two rounds. What were the biggest challenges in Round 1? How can we improve the process? Dusting off our crystal balls – what do we anticipate?
We received answers from our own Knight Center of Digital Excellence expert, Chief Technology Officer Mark T. Ansboury, as well as others closely connected to the application process: Drew Clark, founder of BroadbandCensus.com; Craig Settles, writer and technology consultant; and Jim Baller of Baller Herbst Law Group and the U.S. Broadband Coalition. (More information on each individual is available at the end of this article.)
Knight Center active during first round of stimulus funding
The Knight Center of Digital Excellence has been extremely active in helping its Knight communities participate in the first round of broadband stimulus funding by collaborating with like-minded organizations to create a host of innovative programs designed to create jobs and bolster local economies.
We also supported local groups with their own asks – including Philadelphia’s Digital Philadelphia initiative; Miami’s “Elevate Miami;” Miami-Dade County’s Public Safety/Special Purpose Broadband; Detroit Broadband LLC’s (Clearwire); St. Paul, Minn.; Duluth, Minn.; and Biloxi, Miss.
Go for gigabit speeds: America should expect nothing less
By Mark T. Ansboury, the Knight Center of Digital Excellence
As federal officials begin reviewing 2,200 detailed proposals requesting more than seven times the $4 billion in broadband investment in this round of stimulus funding, it’s a good time to revisit the big-picture and ask what outcomes are we looking for and what should drive funding decisions. With the government investing ambitiously in economic recovery, Americans should be equally bold in expecting a return on our nation’s investment.
And to ensure the long-term benefits - particularly given this is our infrastructure for innovation and global competitiveness for years to come - we all should be thinking years and decades out. To quote the “Great One,” Wayne Gretzky, you should “go to where the puck’s going, not where it is.”
So, as the Federal Communications Commission is charged with establishing our nation’s first broadband policy, we should focus not only where we fall short today, but also where we will entirely miss opportunities - and the puck. We need to know where our broadband strategy is going and what happens to our nation’s future without a bold one.
And onward to Round 2?
With the deadlines for the first round of broadband stimulus funding finally past, applicants for Round 2 can now anticipate the NOFA out … well, hold on a minute.
Rumors, hopes, or predictions that the Round 2 NOFA would be coming in September flies in the face of what we at the Knight Center of Digital Excellence have been told.
We know what the BTOP “Quarterly Program Status Report” to Congress released Aug. 17 stated, at least in terms of the first round BTOP schedule:
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