Briefing on Stimulus and Broadband

WIPP, attended a briefing hosted by the Internet Innovation Alliance on April 15th. This briefing was on the Stimulus and Broadband and was moderated by Larry Irving and Bruce Mehlman, founders of IIA who discussed the broadband programs being developed by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the USDA's Rural Utility Service (RUS). Both of these programs were created from the $7.2 billion in stimulus money allocated for broadband efforts- $4.7 Billion in grants to NTIA and $2.5 Billion in grants and loans to RUS.

The IIA has set four principles to guide the funding priorities:

1), the stimulus funds should go towards well-defined, "shovel ready" broadband projects to ensure immediate stimulus in 2009; 2), the top priority for stimulus investment should be deployment of broadband to un-served areas; 3), tap local knowledge from State, cities and non-profit organizations to identify community needs; and 4), implement sustainable solutions that focus on digital literacy and facilitate consumer education for improved broadband adoption.

Many proposals on how best to use the stimulus funds have been put forth, but the underlying issue is the need for a national broadband strategy to set the foundation. The FCC is expected to produce this strategy for Congress by February 2010. According to the IIA, this strategy should focus on the supply side by improving information to the market, promoting competition, and encouraging next generation technology and should focus on the demand side by expanding digital literacy, encouraging transformative applications, and aggregating broadband demand.