out of the mouth of babes

I spotted this comment to an article in PC World by my new buddy, reporter Grant Gross (it was a reprint of the IDG article, Government Broadband Project to Compete with Existing Service.)

Little 14 year old melindaann13 commented in reply to this quote in the article,

"It doesn't sound reasonable that a competitor would get tax dollars to compete".

She wrote in response:

It doesn't sound reasonable for Windstream to be fighting new services when they aren't willing to improve the existing services themselves.

If they are really as good as they think they are then they should not be so worried about new competition.

Their services don't even begin to meet my needs, and I'm only a 14 year old 8th grader.

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I'm going to take today to be naive and open and believe that this really was a 14 year old kid, probably the daughter of a consumer attorney! Sounds as inquisitive and percocious as my 8 year old policy savvy kid!

Speechless

I am going to reserve judgment on yesterday's announcement of the latest mapping grants.

I am not even going to comment on the fact that some states' maps will be created by a "non profit" organization (with major industry board members) that lobbied states to become their designated mapping grant designee using "seed" capital partially funded by the very same industry incumbents that decided not to apply for grants themselves but are equally NOT interested in having the government subsidize their competitors with grant/loans, enabling these new entrants to provide service to the very same areas that these incumbents claim they are already serving, and by "serving" that is if you mean the incumbents can, if they wanted to, go in and actually build the capacity for all the residents in the area to actually receive broadband access if and when they wanted but are not, well not today anyway because it doesn't make economic sense to right now, as in a "I don't want to play ball, but I am going to take my ball and go home so you can't play either" sort of way...

I won't even say a word about the fact that unless the criteria by which these states determine who is served and unserved is changed radically (read: abandon some or all of the definitions), those same states will end up with horribly skewed inaccurate maps of broadband availability and will end up wasting a bunch of the tax payer's money and make the NTIA look bad in the process for funding it in the first place especially when it should have known better as all the signs pointed to the fact that it all was a BAD BAD IDEA!

Nope. I will keep my judgments to myself for once.

The gig is up?

Up until recently, there have been just a few of us watching the dole out of Broadband Stimulus funds in this little slice of the Blogsphere and Twitterverse that we've carved out for ourselves. (you know who you are)

I believe at some point, recently though, some other people started to notice us huddling over here in our corner one stratosphere to the left of cyberspace. They see us snacking on our nacho chips and beer with our feet cocked up on well-worn ottomans kicking back, talking smack about the government and sharing our thoughts and guesses on how we feel everything is going and better yet how feel it SHOULD be going. Yeah, we've got BIG talk for a bunch of cybergeeks.

Oh but the new watchers - they don't chime in. Make no mistake about that. I'm slowly beginning to think they Just watch. Shake their heads a little. There's some tsk tsking. Some finger wagging maybe. I can feel the hot breath of a little bit of judgment on my neck. Definitely that.

I am just praying to the heavens that the slow down in info from sources this week is on account of the holidays and that some haven't stopped sharing 'cause they've figured out that I'm taking the juice and tip toeing back to the computer to spread the word among my Twitter buddies. No one has love for a loud mouth dweeb.

I'm hoping I haven't become a victim of my own notoriety - even if it is based on a narcissistic delusional impression that I am more relevant than I really am.

And Yes. It is too early in the morning to be blabbing like this. I can admit that. Good night.

Scoop This!

On my tracker for this week:

1. Someone asked me if I thought there would be additional awards this month. My RUS contact told me earlier that she knew awards would be given out by the end of the month. I asked her to clarify if that is still the case or if she was referring to the ones given out last week. To be honest, I would be surprised if that was the case because it looks like it took much scrambling and such to pull off the multiple simultaneous announcements in multiple states, embargoed releases and carefully crafted and selected applicants and... whew! I'm exhausted just writing all that down. So I do not think this close to Christmas and New Year's the government has all that in it to repeat. What MAY happen is that the final waves of the remaining 2 billion and change is released purely Press Release style as was the case with the Mapping Grants. (edited to add that I am not questioning that they will be awarded just the method)

I put in my query to my old faithful RUS contact and will report what she says.

2. While I had her ear, I also asked if the remaining $2billion and change allocated for round 1 will be announced before the NOFA for round 2 because clearly people need to plan these things around whether or not their project is funded in Round 1. We'll see what she says...

3. Finally, I also asked her to verify the Twitter accounts. Someone (St. Louis Broadband) questioned if the USDA and NTIA Twitter accounts were authentic considering the fact that neither had the verified Twitter marking of authenticity. Twitter started handing those out at the requests of celebrities who were finding people were opening fake accounts with their names (e.g. well hard earned brands), accumulating massive amount of followers and pretending to be those celebrities. Apparently, FCC was astute enough to request one when it started or a bright intern at Twitter saw the account and confirmed its realness. In any event, the NTIAgov Twitter account hasn't been updated since last week, which could mean one of several things: a. it was started by someone at NTIA but whoever is in charge is not updating it regularly; b. there's no new news to update (this one I hardly believe as there's always something going on that FCC is at Tweeting feverishly about); or c. it was started by a someone without authority to create it who just isn't keeping it up and is creating cause for him/her to be outed sooner than later.

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In other Broadband award speculation news, CJ Settles published an article on his blog sharing some insights and pontificating on whether his early predictions have come into fruition.

In response to his thoughts over the fact that Telcos were awarded relatively small amounts, I'd say that was the case simply because of that "rush" he mentioned to get something out the door STATt! Just as the public/private partnerships made sense to fund out the gate, so did it make sense to fund projects requesting smaller amounts that most likely weren't challenged. The one big project that was awarded and announced by Biden has already been getting some mild push back from those that challenged its funding area.

Also, there was a lot of speculation that wireless guys would be the big winners. Many point out that the NOFA and literature coming from the government seemingly favored wireless projects. I think that will still be the case when it is time to award last mile projects.

All those early analysts were and are correct that it makes sense to fund the middle mile projects that will create the infrastructure to reach the internet backbone and will provide lower cost options for the last mile folks to interconnect to, so to speak. Wireless is still not seen as a viable middle mile solution, whether correctly or not and perhaps that is why fiber and maybe some satellite projects may win in that arena. Who knows?

And in reply to CJ Settles mention of the Chest Thumping by the winners, I think it's one thing to make big claims but the government reporting requirements demand that projects document and report every single NEW customer that the project signs up.

So to say, 'I SEE YOUR 700 NEW SUBSCRIBERS YOUR PROJECT CLAIM AND I RAISE YOU 7,000 NEW SUBSCRIBERS' you've got to be prepared to Walk the Walk after Talking all that talk eh? err. yeah.

Anyway, all this speculation is making me hungry. Time for breakfast!

Everyone's Got an An Opinion These Days

Take a gander at all the early blog posts and articles analyzing the latest awardees? I wonder when the mainstream press is going to get on this. Kudos to the following outlets:

• EDITED TO ADD A BIG OMISSION: Craig Settles, the preeminent consultant and analyst who has been out in front on these issues since early on... In his review, he confirmed what he predicted months ago: that public/private partnerships would be among the BIG winners
• EDITED TO ADD Stacey Higgobotham's analysis which questions whether the original 4.1 billion allocated for Round 1 has been dwindled down to just 2billion.
  

• App-Rising has a critical but optimistic analysis

• Telephony's Analysis is pretty informative and introspective
  

• Telecompetitor's got the Local perspective

• The Blog of Equipment Manufacturer OCCAM Networks has a pretty good analysis with predictions
  

• The Benton Foundation suggests we (watchdogs and government alike) measure the results from what is supposed to happen with the grants and loans carefully
  

• A reporter from ComputerWorld took the bait from the PR pitch folks of Windstream or TDS Telecom, companies that challenged North Georgia Network Cooperative's application claiming they served the areas North Georgia proposed to serve. Looks like incumbent challengers won't go quietly into that good night after all...

• The White House has a full Report of the projects announced Thursday and a summary of this Report on its Recovery website

NTIA listed on it website an outline of each of the 10 BTOP grant awards it has made so far. (and edited to add that this explains why my informant was of the position that BIP and BTOP divorced. Looks like there is no BIP page for awards thus far as only those awarded BTOP funding must have been contacted for information that is not due diligence related)

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and in other updates, NTIA is now FINALLY on Twitter, (*edited to ADD, if it is real as it has not been Verified by Twitter) A little late to the party, but better late than never, right? Let's welcome them and follow them as with only 43 followers, NTIA has a looooong way to go to catch up with the FCC's 240,631 followers (and counting).

NTIA joins Commerce Secretary Gary Locke who has been there since September 24, 2009, who followed the FCC which started its Twitter account on August 14, 2009, one month and a day after the USDA (also unverified) did on July 13, 2009 (a trailblazer in Government years ).

I still think the BTOP and BIP programs should have their own unique (Verified) Twitter account which they use to supply up to date information. Come on in guys! The water's fine.

Perhaps part of this move to go where the people driving the discussions are is driven by the White House which issued specific guidelines and directives recently requiring all administrative agencies within the next 60 days to create an OPEN government website where they share with the public information about proceedings that the public wants to know.

I guess you can say that Broadbandusa.gov is that type of website, but since the purpose of the executive memo on transparency which was the impetus behind the directives issued this month was a call to more OPENNESS and TRANSPARENCY, we can all agree to disagree that the Broadbandusa could do more to be both those things.

Not to belabor the point further, but I really dug the part of the directive that required agencies to proactively use modern technology to disseminate useful information, rather than waiting for specific requests under FOIA.

I saw that and immediately thought of (1) all those States that refused to make their priority picks public and (2) Strickling's mention during the last oversight hearing of the dozens of letters the agencies had gotten from various Congressmen/women inquiring about projects on behalf of their respective constituents.

I mean inquiring minds wanted to know this type of stuff and shouldn't have to go through the sometimes timely FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) process to get it.

I'm off for now, just got a disturbing analysis of the government's latest statement about the Stimulus funding

Stay tuned...

there is no vocal virtuoso with a large girth in sight

or in other non-PC terms, "It aint over until the Fat lady sings"

There appeared to be some confusion from applicants who were not named among the first awardees yesterday. Several thought that yesterday's announcement for awards which amounted to less than 3% of the applicants and only $128 million of the 4 billion up for grabs this round, was it as for the Round 1 process.

Although various statements from officials and the press following this proceeding indicated that was NOT the case and even I tried to make that clear in my tweets, I still saw scores of sullen faces (metaphorically speaking and through my computer screen) after the list of 18 were made public.

Good thing the NTIA made the point abundantly clear on its website today:

Awards will continue to be announced from the First Round application pool on a rolling basis into February 2010

As I stated in past tweets, if you hadn't been invited and gone through the due diligence process by now, you had no business even expecting to be listed among the first awards.

I guess after some companies filed their application, they stopped watching the process and sat down idly waiting for the results and didn't not bother to educate themselves on the next steps.

That became very apparent by the number of different characters tweeting about the stimulus via the channels: #btop #bbstim #bip #ntia #rus #ruralbroadband #broadband etc etc etc

so a Broadband lawyer, engineer and administrator walk into a bar...

ah, the beauty of Twitter is that people watching a particular proceeding are able to quickly share news and information with one another without the filter of traditional news media, high profile blogs and government PR offices.

Gotta love it folks.

I say all that to share the waaaay over 140 characters response that @BroadBandEngr gave me in response to our Tweet convo s/he, @ColoComLwyr and @MicahSchwalb and I were having about our feelings about the caliber and characteristics of the projects that were announced yesterday for funding. In particular, the discussion flowed over whether terrestrial fiber projects or wireless WiMax, microwave and other sexier technologies like hybrid systems would do a better job of solving the problem at hand - lack of broadband access for rural and remote communities.

In any event, I asked about hybrid systems combining wireless, wireline and satellite transmission modes as a middle mile solution and this is the response I got in the wee hours of the morning when no creature should be stirring other than the anxious insomniatic 97.5% of the applicants still waiting on word that their project has been funded.

From @BroadBandEngr:

Today, most networks are a hybrid of different transmission media, with the most common being copper, fiber and wireless. A DSL circuit feeds into a DSLAM shelf, which is often connected by fiber to some higher capacity network. It is common for a wireless ISP to use a leased T1 (copper) to feed the base station. Even highspeed cable often uses a combination: coax (copper) at the home, fiber from the neighborhood to the headend. These copper, fiber and terrestrial wireless systems typically have low latency (time to travel from one node to another is very short). Any satellite link will have a higher latency due to the time necessary to send the signal to space and wait for the return.

Introducing a satellite link into the picture means that you are willing to accept the higher latency. This is annoying to the user for any rapid response application. Satellite links have also historically been slower links (lower throughput speeds), although this is improving. Satellites will always be slower than terrestrial copper and/fiber.

Satellites do have specific applications, especially in difficult geographies. "Difficult" means that it is expensive, impractical or impossible to construct fiber and/or copper lines to a location. Examples might be islands, deep canyons, mountainous areas or extremely remote areas (northern Canada or Alaska for example).

To run a wireless ISP using a satellite feed, an operator can deploy a normal terrestrial wireless multipoint system (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, even cellular), and use the satellite link to connect back to 'the world'. The terrestrial systems will work normally except for data transmitted over the satellite link. The satellite traffic will be subject to the delays and speed restrictions of the satellite link. It is completely possible to extend from a satellite downlink to a 2nd or 3rd wireless hub using terrestrial microwave (licensed or unlicensed wireless point-to-point). Technically, this will work. However, due to cost, latency, speed, and possible usage limitations by the satellite provider, the use of satellite for backhaul is almost never preferred over terrestrial copper or fiber (if one of these options is available).

There are stories of Wireless ISPs using satellite feeds to reach communities in the bottom of the Grand Canyon http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/21/technology/satellite-web-links-let-indian-tribes-take-a-technological-jump.html. One company actually promotes the use of satellite fed WISPs as a niche market http://www.ftionline.com/services/wireless.html. Satellite fed ISP is pretty common in remote villages in Alaska http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/108560688.html.

Here's my priority list for broadband access: If you have fiber, use it. If you are mobile, wireless is your only option, and coverage is king. If you are not mobile, and don't have fiber, you might have a choice between copper and wireless - choose the one that gives you the best bang for your buck. If you have no terrestrial option, go for a satellite link. If you find a place where satellite doesn't reach, thank your lucky stars you have found peace, and find a good book to read (that's an old fashioned thing with ink markings on paper, ask an old guy how to use it).

BBEng

Hmm. I have to let that one marinate a bit and prepare my response me think.

The Full List of 18 Projects for 17 States...

Can be found on this link and below:

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 following Middle Mile awards were made through the Department of Commerce:

· GEORGIA: 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.

· MAINE: 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.

· NEW YORK: 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.

· SOUTH DAKOTA: 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.

The following Public Computer Center awards were made through the Department of Commerce:

· ARIZONA: 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.

· MASSACHUSETTS: 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.

· MINNESOTA: 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.

· WASHINGTON: 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.

The following Sustainable Broadband Adoption awards were made through the Department of Commerce:

· NEW MEXICO: 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.

· WASHINGTON: 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.

The following Last Mile and Middle Mile awards were made today through the U.S. Department of Agriculture:

· ALASKA: Anchorage, 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.

· HAWAII: 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.

· COLORADO/NEBRASKA: Peetz, Colorado, 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.

· MICHIGAN: 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.

· NEW HAMPSHIRE: Bretton Woods, 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.

· NEW YORK: Potsdam, 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.

· OHIO: 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.

· OKLAHOMA: Southeast Oklahoma, 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.

The Puppet Master

So, if as expected, the first Broadband Stimulus grant/loan award recipients are announced tomorrow, it will be very educational to learn the projects that were worthy enough to stand out among the lot of 2,2oo other applicants.

Congrats if your project is one of those named.

As my source revealed yesterday, the fact that the government had given certain companies HOURS to get in information not related to due diligence but rather general information about the company perhaps to be folded into a speech or press release, the signs pointed that an announcement was eminent within days. So that's pretty good investigative work by that source as s/he/it was only off by a day!

As the first awardees pop the champagne and start clinking glasses, I'd warn they not go overboard, and stay sober long enough to get ready for maneuvering through all the strings that are attached to this money.

If their attorney/counsel/consultant haven't already gone through the agreement they have to enter with RUS(and presumably NTIA will have a similar document) here are some items to keep in mind, especially for any investor that will be contributing matching funds:

(these are cleaned up versions of my compliance tweets from September 30, 2009)

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1. You can't make any profit off of your project. For RUS, Any profit must be reinvested in the RUS/BIP fund for the project and not pocketed and distributed among your investors and management team. There is a similar project fund under BTOP.

2. LLC awardees can't directly or indirectly add or issue new member units or transfer more than than 49% interest of company without permission from the government.

3. Your assets cannot be pledged without permission.

4. Awardess cannot dissolve before obligation owed to government is fulfilled including loan payments. (This one is a given and should be expected anyway, yes?)

5. Salaries, wages, & other compensation for services, directors, members, managers, shall be reasonable & comparable to companies like awardee. I've heard from folks that one way to get around the profit limitation would be to pad the salary of the executive management team so I guess this provision is meant to close that loophole.

6. Awardees can't reorganize, consolidate, merge into any other corporation, sell, lease or transfer property w/out permission of government. It makes sense that once you take public money, the government owns you -- and it owns your assets for a long time too...check the next one:

7. Awardees can't sell or lease award funded facilities for 10 YEARS!! There are strict exceptions however. (This may be a stickler for investors because in this volatile market, I'm not certain there are too many investors around willing to put their money into a project with which there are so many restrictions and no clear immediate exit options. I understand the government wanting to protect its investment and curb applicants unjustly enriching their pockets and bottom lines on the backs of the American taxpayer, but sheesh, is this not a non-starter for getting matching private equity dollars.)

8. You can attempt to sell it if you want after the 10 years, but do know that the federal government STILL retains an interest in property in the event that it is sold after the 10 year unjust enrichment period ends . Again, I know this is an institutional standard that has been around for years of RUS program implementation, but it can be a hard pill to swallow.

You've got loads of paperwork to file - Some of which is due as early as the first two weeks in January whether you've gotten a dime yet or not

9. Among the type of information you have to submit for each quarterly report, you must TRACK and report every single new broadband customer you gain and You must provide your rates for services.

So it seems the government is supposed to be carefully watching to make sure you pull off what you claim to pull off in your application including costs! If you say you will provide low cost broadband that is competitive to the incumbent, you have to deliver. No price skimming! No redlining or whitelining or greenlining.

You have to align your accounting practices with the government's
10.You have to switch to GAAP principals of accounting before you are given a dime.

No bulk payment should be expected:

11. Most likely, You will not be given your entire funding request in a bulk payment. You may well have to receive your funding on an invoice basis (as that is how RUS does it). You can only invoice within 60 days of the funding being used.

12. Awardees must open account to hold all govt payments and place it in an account that is approved by the government. Without the prior written approval of RUS, the Awardee can't place Advances in any bank or other depository that is NOT insured by the FDIC

13. You may have to evidence all withdrawals/disbursements by canceled checks for accounting.

14. Awardees can't change their legal name or place of incorporation or organization without giving RUS sixty 60 days prior written notice.

And you are being watched ...

They will take your auditor's word for it:

15. BIP Awardees will have to file an annual audited CPA financial statement approved by the RUS; compliance report & a management letter.

Or will do it themselves:

16. RUS/NTIA will impose random audit, site visits, ongoing monitoring & inspections to make sure the government's investment is not being squandered or wasted or mismanaged. Remember, one of the key criticisms from incumbents is that the money will go to nascent newbies who are clueless how to manage it and will waste the people's money. I suppose this is why you are required to proved your source of independent working capital and show how your business will be sustainable for three years.

And if any audit reveals any funny stuff:

17. If RUS learns that the Awardee did not use the Loan and/or Grant exclusively for approved Project, it may suspend payment or demand repayment! Whoa Nelly!

Anyway, that's it for me. Until the next buzz comes my way!

Have a scoop you want to share anonymously? Create a Yahoo account and email me at broadbandlawyer(at)yahoo.com

closer

One of my favorite all times tunes is Nine Inch Nails' song Closer. The beauty of an anonymous blog is that I can admit that and not be shamed what my professional colleagues would think of me. The lyrics are not for the prudish of heart.

There is a point.

I just got word that something is happening and will be announced soon at the BTOP administrator's factory.

I did confirm from my BIP contact that she knew nothing of an announcement today or tomorrow from BIP though she did AGAIN assure my clients that have not gotten due diligence 2nd review communication that RUS is still issuing them on an ongoing basis.

Now, the revelation that allegedly (according to the cryptic messages I get from my source) BTOP will be making an announcement soon is baffling because I would assume that they would make the announcement of first awards together given the two agencies started this journey TOGETHER at the early part of the year when the ARRA bill was signed.

You see early on, I was told by both my BTOP and BIP source that both agencies were working together, in unison and were indeed sharing information. You see THE REASON I pressed for answers was that I was concerned that the original rules and NOFA said that BTOP would only consider an applicant passed up by BIP. So I wondered if a BIP/BTOP applicant is selected by BTOP does that mean BIP passed on the applicant? Also, with both agencies proceeding jointly using different criteria and methods of analyzing applicants, how does one hand know what the other is doing? I did not have confidence that the process was linear nor fluid. Oh ME of little Faith.

She assured me all was well. The two agencies had weekly meetings to ensure they were on the same page, she said. No worries.

and then I heard from the rumor mill that ALL WAS NOT WELL. That RUS which had been used to administering these types of grants and loans for other programs for decades did not like the fact that the new kid on the government funding block was so Green and not making it (RUS) look good with its Trials and Error method of administrating the BTOP program. And in all honesty, you could hear the arrogance of Administrator Adelstein's voice as he replied to most questions during the various oversight hearings by announcing all of the wonderful ways that RUS has helped the US economy via the smart way it was administering the Farm Bill and other grant and loan programs. He might as well have said, "I don't know about these clowns, but we know what we're doing."

A divorce was eminent I was told by industry insiders.

The naysayers disagreed. It was too far along in their marriage, they said. A divorce for round 1 is not possible, the unconvinced rebuked.

....FAST FORWARD to TODAY

But here we have it on this 15th day of December, nearly 1/2 way through the last month of the year and nearly four months since the applications were turned in and a couple of months past the original thought time frame for issuing award announcement -- the news that BTOP on its own and separate from BIP would be making an announcement as early as today.

Hmm. If this rumor does in fact come into fruition, did BTOP share it with RUS or the awardees even?

Interesting evolution of events wouldn't you say?

We are CLOSER.

Denial isn't just a river in Egypt

Is Colorado really surprised over the conundrum it's in over its choice of mapping partner? (Read the news here.)

I say call me a monkey's uncle or was every one of those states opting to use a company partially funded by the industry incumbent delusional in thinking they would ACTUALLY REALLY get an accurate map of broadband availability in their state?

REALLY?

The writing was on the Wall. It was the 100,000 lb gorilla in the room and every other cliche you could think of in lieu of "duuuuuh!"

I wonder what those other states are thinking or going to do.

more Stimulus money?

I wonder if there will be more funds allocated to broadband stimulus as alluded to in President Obama's Tuesday jobs speech at the Brookings Institute...I mean more money even tho the current distribution of funds from the prior allocation is taking so much heat from all the critics....

by critics I include us Broadband Stimulus watchers on Twitter and in the Blogsphere, not just the applicants, commenters, lobbyists and congressmen and women...

I'm hopeful that were not just talking into the air...

is this mic on? I've got something to say? is anyone listening? hello?

must be the wrong number.

...hmmm....

What Strickling thinks makes a winning application

Excerpted from today’s TR Daily

STRICKLING CALLS FOR ‘MORE CREATIVE, INCLUSIVE’APPLICATIONS IN SECOND BTOP FUNDING ROUND

In round two of funding for the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration wants to “push people to be more creative and more inclusive” through public/private partnerships that “reach out to all the key anchors in a community,” not just libraries and schools, NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said yesterday during a luncheon speech at the Practising Law Institute’s telecom policy and regulation conference in Washington.

“We think project applicants can do more to include the companies that will offer services to households and businesses in the project,” Mr. Strickling added…

In the first round of BTOP applications, which are still under review, “the highest quality applications are the ones that have taken a truly comprehensive view of the communities to be served and have engaged as many key members of the communities as possible in developing the projects,” Mr. Strickling said. “We want to see more of these projects in round 2 and for those of you in the audience that have worked on applications, I challenge you to respond to this message and work all that much harder to bring us applications that will serve communities for years to come….”

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As I think was alluded to before by watchers of this proceeding, private companies are hard pressed to win without having bonafide relationships and endorsements from the governments in the communities they propose to serve.

I suppose the part of the NOFA, application and discourse from administrators discouraging applicants from going into a community without making advance effort to assess the needs of its inhabitants and get to know them better is playing itself out in these statements.

Or am I reading too much into the speech?

Take note folks!

My new job!

Looks like I'm getting a promotion folks!!

This time I'm making myself Administrator of Snooping Around for Details and Info You Won't find On Your Friendly Neighborhood NTIA or RUS online website.

It's a dirty job but in this economy of joblessness you should be happy to see at least one other person getting employment um even if it is self-employment in a voluntary made up position.

I'm off a-snooping folks. Let me know if you have a good question to go track down!

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If you don't want to leave it in the comment field you can email them to broadbandlawyer(at) yahoo.com

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edited to add questions questions Inquiring minds want to know...

1. Who is lobbying the congressional oversight committees and drafting their inquiry and demand letters to the NTIA and RUS in an attempt to influence who gets funding;

2. Which applicants have written, called, or emailed (read Lobbied) their congressional representatives urging them also to write, call, email or otherwise nudge the NTIA and RUS into taking a closer or second look at their application. (A list and access to the letters from Congressional and other government heads would be helpful. Strickling already let us know the NTIA, at least, has collected several of such letters);

3. Who specifically has already passed to stage 2 considering knowing this could help Round 2 applicants gain some insight on what it takes so they can prepare for Round 2 funding;

4. How far along is each agency into the stage 2 notification process, specifically of the applicants selected for step 2, how much of the 4.2 billion allocation did they request and could possibly lessen the pot by if they were to be successful in the end (Inquiring minds want to know if they pot is drying up and their chances of getting funded this round);

5. Who specifically (names and titles) were these persons who served as panel experts in the NTIA volunteer expert stage; and

6. What is the specific criteria being used to judge the applications and allocation of points; This is not a data set, per se, but I'm sure plenty people would want to know whether NTIA/RUS foresee distributing all the funds before the application would be due for the next round since getting or not getting funded this round would be a deciding factor in whether an applicant begins the process of trying again.

Houston, we have confirmation....

Good News!

from BIP anyway (and I assume NTIA has the similar policy).


As predicted in my "assumption" from my Friday post, I got this confirmation today from RUS:

BIP is still issuing due diligence letters ...The December announcements will be the first of several and like the step 2 letters, they will continue on a rolling basis.

see...this blog isn't all about gossip and inuendo...

here's a stream to the

Open Internet Technical Advisory Process Workshop
December 8, 2009 at the FCC in Washington, DC
STREAMING LIVE 10:00 am - 4:30 pm EST

Agenda: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-295040A1.pdf

http://fcc.gov/live/

elements of a Step Two Letter

look what I got my grubby little hands on today...

the exact elements of the Step 2 letter from the Rural Utilities Service Broadband Infrastructure Program. (I didn't even have to sell my 2nd born for it either, just had to be pushy and convince someone to give up the goods!)

When I got it, the first thing I thought was "eh!"! It's not too much different from what we already knew would be requested from looking at the NOFA, the BIP Application and other stuff on the BroadbandUSA.gov website.

BUT it sure is nice to get a sneak peek anyway of the proverbial 'REAL THING'.

And here's to hoping this post won't be your only opportunity to read these words below...

DOH!

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Application determined to be "sufficiency meritorious to proceed to the next stage of processing."

The following are direct quotes and in bold:

· Please note that this is neither a guarantee that your project will be funded nor an indication that your application has been fully determined eligible for the BIP program.

· Changes to the initial application will not be permitted and will render your application ineligible.

The following documentation has to be submitted within 30 days via the Easygrants system:

· Description of Technology

· Build-Out Schedule

· Licenses, Approvals, and Agreements

· Environmental Materials

· Commitment of Capital Funding

· Outstanding Obligations

· Service Level Objectives

· Organization's Legal Entity Documents

· Contact Information

the Divinci Code

the 4 page letter to NTIA & RUS from Rep Stearns and Rep Bartons (Congressional BFFs & Partners in oversight crime) has the electronic fingerprints of incumbent lobbyists embedded in it.

from your director of public assumptions

since the government is very slow to update applicants on the process, and we can't seem to get a honest direct answer these days, I've self-appointed myself:

Director of Broadband Stimulus Funding Assumptions

here is my report for this Friday afternoon.

assumption #1.

Strickling is quoted recently as saying the first non-mapping funds will be announced in two weeks. TWO WEEKS?!?

Hmm. So there's a 30- day response period to get your stuff in after being notified you passed to due diligence, and then it takes the government some time to analyze your data. It looks like then if you haven't already gotten a due diligence letter/email/call AND completed the process, your chances of being named in these TWO WEEKs (allegedly) are slim to None and "Slim" just boarded a jet to Afghanistan with 29,000 of his buddies.

assumption #2.

When I contacted my RUS and USDA contacts in the past, I was told notifications about being passed to due diligence were sent out via fax and snail mail letters. I see recent tweets and have gotten word people are being called about being advanced. This is good. I don't think Mr. Strickling and Mr. Adelstein want to go before yet another congressional committee and admit to having to push back the date for making first announcements AGAIN!

Nothing like an oversight hearing to light a fire under a stack of red tape.

This means if you are one of the anxious many waiting for your turn up to the due diligence bat, you get to stalk the mail, fax machine AND now the voice mail for the word!

assumption #3

Some applicants have been contacted and told they have until January 2 to get their responses in, which means there will not be one announcement about all winners en masse in TWO WEEKS (allegedly), but rather rolling announcements, similar as we've seen with the mapping grants winners. So, even if you won't be in that list of initial proposed funding projects, there's still hope Santa Clause (or "Elijah" depending on your religious persuasion) may pass by your house this winter and come in the form of a Due Diligence notification.

This can be particularly helpful for those going after private matching funding. No one funds "hope" but a due diligence notification gets you closer to Yes! Yes?

in the irreverent words of Jesse Jackson, "Keep Hope Alive!"

if you'd like to make a call...please hang up and call again

if you are quick and monitor this space often, you may notice I've posted some of the decision makers and reviewers phone numbers here. That post is gone now.

see what happens is my conscious gets the better of me and I fear you may inundate these poor overworked folks with calls and pressure them to give you answers that they may not have or were instructed not to share with you poor schmuck who put aside your business plans in hopes of grabbing some of this government mullah.

i say to my self, "self, but what if THEY track it back to me and I face some repercussion?"

then I think about it some more and say to myself "naaaah, It's the government, stupid!"

So watch this space often and I may repost again for a brief moment before yanking it down.

and besides, if it wasnt' meant to be public why hide it somewhere obscure buried deep within a government website where no normal human is likely to see it ever?

wait...

Get your Free Webinar...get 'em while it's hot!

I don't know about you, but I have been inundated with calls, emails and snail mail solicitation and pitches from various businesses, companies, groups, subcontractors pitching services to BTOP and BIP applicants, and Awardees.

The good news is some of them are ahead of the game by offering free webinars. Sure at the end of the day, they are also trying to get you to sign up to use their optimization tool or engineering skills or wholesale semiconductor widget blah, blah, blah...

Their hard sell pitch is your gain because you stand to get some free advice from industry leaders in the process...

It's all gravy baby.

Here is a selection of some I've gotten. Feel free to add your own or email me to update this post at broadbandlawyer (at) yahoo.com Oh and act fast because they may have limited capacity.

ENJOY!

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Who: The Huron Group

What: Broadband Stimulus Award Reporting Webinar

When: Thursday, December 10 at 12pm

The Pitch: Broadband Stimulus Awards carry an unprecedented level of compliance requirements, creating a significantly increased administrative responsibility for the recipients of funds. Is your organization ready?

Join us for a complimentary webinar as Huron’s industry and functional experts discuss:

· Specific Compliance Requirements
· Stimulus Award Reporting
· Suggested Practices

Huron works with organizations to properly set up compliance and management processes for federal grant and loan programs and file required reports. To ensure your organization is in compliance, call on Huron to help.

More info: Learn more at www.huronconsultinggroup.com/UtilARRA

HURRY UP AND HOP OFF THAT...cause these folks are on the same day

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Who: Dragon Wave

What: Webinar: Addresssing Rural Broadband Backhaul Challenges

When: Thursday, December 10th, 2009 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM EST

The Pitch: Implemented under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the NTIA New Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) are facilitating new broadband infrastructure deployments of unprecedented scale, in rural and underserved markets.

As service providers evaluate their network infrastructure deployment options, they are faced with several unique backhaul challenges including:

* Long link distances
* Limited site deployment options
* Scalability and upgrade challenges
* High ongoing operating costs
* Short deployment timelines

Please join us for this informative webinar, where we will review several backhaul alternatives and discuss the key advantages of DragonWave's packet microwave solutions in addressing the critical technical, operational and economic requirements of rural broadband operators.

Presenter: Greg Friesen, Director of Product Management, DragonWave
More information: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/290193841

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Who: idinsight
What: Want Great Broadband Strategy? Get Better Broadband Intelligence

When: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 4-5pm

The Pitch:
From coast to coast, everyone wants to bring broadband to their communities. This Webinar shows you how to reach your goals by capturing better broadband data.

Formerly ranked first in the world, the United States has fallen to fifteenth in high-speed Internet penetration. What's it going to take to make us number one again? Better intelligence.


To be successful, we must capture and effectively use accurate data about who does and doesn't have adequate broadband to meet their needs. Local communities, Internet service providers and Federal policy makers need access to comprehensive and granular information about Internet usage in specific geographic areas. To date, this much-needed intelligence has been unavailable.

Please join us for this very important Webinar in which we will discuss how to meet the need for a coordinated local and national broadband strategy, and why access to better Internet usage data is absolutely vital to this effort. Presenting is Craig Settles, a broadband business strategist, marketing expert, author, internationally renowned speaker, and frequent industry resource for news outlets such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Time Magazine. Also presenting is Adam Elliott, President of ID Insight, an expert in digital market research and analysis.

Who should attend:
• Federal policy-makers
• Municipal planning teams
• Service providers strategic planners
• Consumer groups
• National broadband strategy supporters
• Anyone interested in using broadband to bridge the digital divide, enable economic growth, increase global competitiveness, and create a better way of life.

More info: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/212771379

is this mic on...

hello broadband world. is anybody home?