The federal government announced $183 million in broadband stimulus funding yesterday. They approved eighteen projects across nineteen states. We’ve assembled a summary of the projects, as well as compiled some local reaction/coverage to some of the projects below.
The funding will address all types of projects, but approximately two-thirds of these initial funds are devoted to middle mile projects. The breakdown of this first round of awards is as follows:
Four different types of awards were made today:
- Middle Mile Awards – $121.6 million to build and improve connections to communities lacking sufficient broadband access.
- Last Mile Awards – $51.4 million to connect end users like homes, hospitals and schools to their community’s broadband infrastructure (the middle mile).
- Public Computing – $7.3 million to expand computer center capacity for public use in libraries, community colleges and other public venues.
- Sustainable Adoption – $2.4 million to fund innovative projects that promote broadband demand with population groups where the technology has traditionally been underutilized.
The below table offers a summary of the winning projects (as provided by the White House), as well as some local reaction/coverage to the funding.
| North Georgia Network Cooperative, Inc., $33.5 million grant with an additional $8.8 million in matching funds to deploy a 260-mile regional fiber-optic ring to deliver gigabit broadband speeds, reliability, affordability, and abundant interconnection points for last mile service in the North Georgia foothills. | Middle Mile | Georgia | Atlanta Journal Constitution |
| Biddeford Internet Corp. (d.b.a. GWI), $25.4 million grant with an additional $6.4 million in matching funds to build a 1,100-mile open access fiber-optic network extending to the most rural and disadvantaged areas of the state of Maine, from the Saint John Valley in the north, to the rocky coastline of downeast Maine, to the mountainous regions of western Maine. | Middle Mile | Maine | Maine Insights |
| ION Hold Co., LLC, $39.7 million grant with an additional $9.9 million in matching funds to build 10 new segments of fiber-optic, middle mile broadband infrastructure, serving more than 70 rural communities in upstate New York and parts of Pennsylvania and Vermont. | Middle Mile | New York | Watertown Daily Times |
| South Dakota Network, LLC, $20.6 million grant with an additional $5.1 million in matching funds to add 140 miles of backbone network and 219 miles of middle mile spurs to existing network, enabling the delivery of at least 10 Mbps service to more than 220 existing anchor institution customers in rural and underserved areas of the state. | Middle Mile | South Dakota | Prairie Business |
| Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, $1.3 million grant with matching funds of $320,000 to enhance existing facilities in more than 80 public libraries throughout the state. The project expects to deploy more than 1,000 computers to meet growing demand. | Public Computer Center | Arizona | N/A |
| City of Boston, $1.9 million grant with matching funds of $477,000 to expand computer and Internet capacity at the city’s main library and 25 branches, 16 community centers, and 11 public housing sites. | Public Computer Center | Massachusetts | Mass High Tech |
| Regents of the University of Minnesota, $2.9 million grant with matching funds of $741,000 to enhance broadband awareness and use for residents in four federally-designated poverty zones in Minneapolis and St. Paul. | Public Computer Center | Minnesota | UM News |
| The Inland Northwest Community Access Network (Tincan), $1.3 million grant with matching funds of $753,000 to establish three new public computer centers and expand 14 existing centers throughout Spokane’s poorest neighborhoods to serve more than 5,000 additional users per week. | Public Computer Center | Washington | The Spokesman Review |
| New Mexico State Library, $1.5 million grant with an additional $591,000 in matching funds to increase broadband adoption and promote computer literacy and Internet use among vulnerable populations, Hispanic and Native American users, small businesses, and entrepreneurs through trainings and outreach statewide. | Broadband Adoption | New Mexico | The New Mexico Independent |
| The Inland Northwest Community Access Network, $981,000 grant with an additional $728,000 in matching funds to increase broadband adoption through basic and advanced computer skill training, as well as community-based outreach campaigns to highlight the benefits of broadband for vulnerable populations in Spokane. | Broadband Adoption | Georgia | The Spokesman Review |
| Rivada Sea Lion, LLC, $25.3 million grant with $6.4 million of leveraged funds; 4G high-speed broadband internet service availability to more than 9,000 unserved locations in a 90,000 square mile area where these Southwestern Alaska inhabitants are living at subsistence level. | Last Mile | Alaska | Fairbanks Daily News-Miner |
| Big Island Broadband/Aloha Broadband, Inc., $106,503 loan with matching funds of $87,405 to bring broadband services to an unserved area in the northern part of the islands where there are nearly 600 residents and businesses. | Last Mile | Hawaii | N/A |
| Peetz Cooperative Telephone Co., $1.5 million grant; expansion of existing infrastructure utilizing a combination of technologies. This project will make broadband service available to as many as 550 locations in the service area. | Last Mile | Colorado/Nebraska | Denver Business Journal |
| The Chatham Telephone Company, $8.6 million grant to bring high speed DSL broadband service to remote, unserved businesses and households within its rural territory; service that is comparable to the DSL service provided in its more populated areas. | Last Mile | Michigan | N/A |
| The Bretton Woods Telephone Company, $985,000 grant for 20 Mbps two-way broadband service to all potential customers and stimulate tourism in the area to substantially improve the local economy. This Fiber to The Premise service will be available to more than 400 locations. | Last Mile | New Hampshire | Union Leader |
| Slic Network Solutions (Nicholville Telephone) a grant of $4.3 million and loan of $1.1 million for a 136-mile fiber optic network reaching into five towns in rural Franklin County. This all-fiber network will deliver broadband voice, and IPTV services to remote rural areas. The network will offer service to more than 6,500 locations. | Last Mile | New York | Watertown Daily Times |
| North Central Ohio Rural Fiber Optic Network, Consolidated Electric Cooperative, $1,034,413 grant and $1,399,499 loan; and matching funds of $1,225,000. The funding is integral to a smart grid initiative and broadband service based on an open-connectivity fiber optic backbone network. | Last Mile | Ohio | Mansfield NewsJournal |
| The Pine Telephone Company, $9.5 grant with an additional $4.6 million in private funds to provide services to an entirely remote, rural, unserved and severely economically disadvantaged community. | Last Mile | Oklahoma | NewsOk |
Do we know how many applications have been rejected?
Not sure if formal rejections have been issued yet. According to NTIA and RUS, "Awards will continue to be announced from the First Round application pool on a rolling basis into February 2010." You can follow progress of NTIA awards at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/projects….
RUS doesn't appear to have a similiar site, although their ARRA specific info is located at http://www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/index.htm
Would welcome any further insight …