Boy, did we take off running since we came off the holidays. I am truly pleasantly amazed at the recent discourse that has been going on in the Blogsphere and Twitterverse lately. Everyone's abuzz with suggestions, predictions, prescriptions, and speculation.
All's back in play too over in Broadbandlawyer world. My NTIA and RUS sources are also back on the grind and feeding me some info that inquiring minds want to know.
First up, the NTIA:
Earlier this week, I tweeted that announcements were imminent within days. It turns out the source was privy to preparations being made to hand out new awards. Alas, there indeed HAVE BEEN DECISIONS made to fund additional projects that have gone through the due diligence stage. However, my source is not certain whether the individual applicants are being notified privately or if there is an effort within NTIA to gather and amass as many approvals as possible before making the next big announcement.
[Time out for commentary: I think perhaps the NTIA is feeling the pressure to fund larger projects and many more of them that will create more jobs than these smaller grantees from the original 18 will be able to generate. Also, with over 2,000 applicants, it will be really looked down upon if they crank out a small number AGAIN. These agencies have a tough task, but they have to step up their game.]
The source said the due diligence process is thorough and detailed and s/he thought maybe a little too much as the extra time is causing the delay. I do recall reading a tweet from that guru consultant Craig Settles mentioning that one of his clients had gone through three rounds of due diligence.
[Time out for commentary: Again, I think since Mr. Strickling announced that the NTIA will NOT fund a BAD project, the pressure is on to make sure that everything is verified. As we have seen in the trade press, there is already criticism that the initial grantees may be too small and inexperienced to pull off what they say they will in their applications. There is a big the fear of funding a project that doesn't create sufficient jobs, is managed poorly or squanders all the funds. Hence, the extra scrutiny. Also, incumbent challengers seemed to have succeeded in slowing down the process, at least, because there is more work for field workers out there verifying broadband coverage. I am still not certain that awardees that were challenged aren't going to be the subject of lawsuits and other complaints as we've seen happen in Maine where legislation was initiated to "defund" a project awarded a grant with the University of Maine. ]
Finally, the source said s/he was unsure if there will be a major announcement of the awardees later, even if some or all are contacted and notified they will be funded.
[Time out for commentary: I think if the NTIA elects to do a major announcement, it will come within the next two weeks. By then, I think the final due diligence invitations will be sent as well. With the current trend and NOFA as a guidance, the due diligence process will take a minimum of 30 days to complete and if both agencies are thinking of finishing up the Round 1 awards by the end of February, any grant seeker hoping to be funded should have been invited to the due diligence round within the next two weeks.]
Now for RUS:
I got a response from my contact with RUS asking specifically on behalf of my clients who are yet to get due diligence letters for access to whoever it is working specifically on their application.
Negative! Nope. Too many applicants to share that. There are no "field" officer assigned to the projects she said.
Hmmm. Okay. Then I asked about the timing. Should these guys start throwing in the towel, shifting their priorities or prepare for round two. Certainly, they'd need to know if they will pass due diligence before making these decisions and it is not fair to them that the agency's delay is costing all these companies valuable resources that could be going to other efforts.
To that question, I got this answer:
*crickets*
No worries. I sent a follow up and will call this afternoon to press further. Hopefully, she is out fetching a response and I will hear back soon.
Nonetheless, I think Administrator Anna Gomez reply during the CES as reported by Steve Blum indicated that NTIA, and by default RUS also, are aiming to get the final awards announced by the time the next round applications are due.
My assessment:
For all of this news, I think the writing is on the wall if you are a Round 1 applicant who has NOT yet been invited to the due diligence. The project may or may not be in the last rounds of announcements. (I predict two more major announcements) However, I also agree with others' assessments that it is best to prepare for the next round, just in case. Well, that is if you have the stomach to be jerked around longer.
It's good to be cautiously optimistic, but at least as a precautionary measure, it may be a good idea to take a second and CRITICAL look at your application and examine what it lacks and compare it to the projects funded and to the ones to be announced soon. With just 18 projects funded, it may have been difficult to spot any trends, per se, as 18 is such a small sample.
However, I do believe there are clues and several of the analysts and BBSTIM watchers have done excellent jobs with these trend predictions. NTIA Administrator Ana Gomez praised the NGN project as a pretty good standard for middle mile project, falling short of saying go forth and copy that model.
Maybe there are some minor items that need tweaking. If you did a multi-jurisdictional application, maybe you want to scale back and focus on one region to make sure your data is accurate. (Recall, there were some states that outright threw out applications for consideration to be prioritized if the applicant proposed to serve other states than their own. ) If you lacked sufficient public and anchor institution endorsement or partners, maybe start seeking out some more to sign up and start with that new tool just announced this week. Maybe you didn't get prioritized by your state, perhaps a call or meeting with state and local decision makers is warranted. Maybe you relied on maps or analytical data that was flawed and you know the flaws and what to do to tweak it. Here's the time to tweak. Perhaps, you proposed to serve an unserved area without thoroughly verifying that the area is indeed unserved, it may be a good time to do a double check. In short, there's no reason to just rest and wait for the news, be it good or bad.
That's it for me. I only have a few more hours in the work day to be productive and stop all this gossiping. There. I admit it. This may be just a gossip blog after all.
All's back in play too over in Broadbandlawyer world. My NTIA and RUS sources are also back on the grind and feeding me some info that inquiring minds want to know.
First up, the NTIA:
Earlier this week, I tweeted that announcements were imminent within days. It turns out the source was privy to preparations being made to hand out new awards. Alas, there indeed HAVE BEEN DECISIONS made to fund additional projects that have gone through the due diligence stage. However, my source is not certain whether the individual applicants are being notified privately or if there is an effort within NTIA to gather and amass as many approvals as possible before making the next big announcement.
[Time out for commentary: I think perhaps the NTIA is feeling the pressure to fund larger projects and many more of them that will create more jobs than these smaller grantees from the original 18 will be able to generate. Also, with over 2,000 applicants, it will be really looked down upon if they crank out a small number AGAIN. These agencies have a tough task, but they have to step up their game.]
The source said the due diligence process is thorough and detailed and s/he thought maybe a little too much as the extra time is causing the delay. I do recall reading a tweet from that guru consultant Craig Settles mentioning that one of his clients had gone through three rounds of due diligence.
[Time out for commentary: Again, I think since Mr. Strickling announced that the NTIA will NOT fund a BAD project, the pressure is on to make sure that everything is verified. As we have seen in the trade press, there is already criticism that the initial grantees may be too small and inexperienced to pull off what they say they will in their applications. There is a big the fear of funding a project that doesn't create sufficient jobs, is managed poorly or squanders all the funds. Hence, the extra scrutiny. Also, incumbent challengers seemed to have succeeded in slowing down the process, at least, because there is more work for field workers out there verifying broadband coverage. I am still not certain that awardees that were challenged aren't going to be the subject of lawsuits and other complaints as we've seen happen in Maine where legislation was initiated to "defund" a project awarded a grant with the University of Maine. ]
Finally, the source said s/he was unsure if there will be a major announcement of the awardees later, even if some or all are contacted and notified they will be funded.
[Time out for commentary: I think if the NTIA elects to do a major announcement, it will come within the next two weeks. By then, I think the final due diligence invitations will be sent as well. With the current trend and NOFA as a guidance, the due diligence process will take a minimum of 30 days to complete and if both agencies are thinking of finishing up the Round 1 awards by the end of February, any grant seeker hoping to be funded should have been invited to the due diligence round within the next two weeks.]
Now for RUS:
I got a response from my contact with RUS asking specifically on behalf of my clients who are yet to get due diligence letters for access to whoever it is working specifically on their application.
Negative! Nope. Too many applicants to share that. There are no "field" officer assigned to the projects she said.
Hmmm. Okay. Then I asked about the timing. Should these guys start throwing in the towel, shifting their priorities or prepare for round two. Certainly, they'd need to know if they will pass due diligence before making these decisions and it is not fair to them that the agency's delay is costing all these companies valuable resources that could be going to other efforts.
To that question, I got this answer:
*crickets*
No worries. I sent a follow up and will call this afternoon to press further. Hopefully, she is out fetching a response and I will hear back soon.
Nonetheless, I think Administrator Anna Gomez reply during the CES as reported by Steve Blum indicated that NTIA, and by default RUS also, are aiming to get the final awards announced by the time the next round applications are due.
My assessment:
For all of this news, I think the writing is on the wall if you are a Round 1 applicant who has NOT yet been invited to the due diligence. The project may or may not be in the last rounds of announcements. (I predict two more major announcements) However, I also agree with others' assessments that it is best to prepare for the next round, just in case. Well, that is if you have the stomach to be jerked around longer.
It's good to be cautiously optimistic, but at least as a precautionary measure, it may be a good idea to take a second and CRITICAL look at your application and examine what it lacks and compare it to the projects funded and to the ones to be announced soon. With just 18 projects funded, it may have been difficult to spot any trends, per se, as 18 is such a small sample.
However, I do believe there are clues and several of the analysts and BBSTIM watchers have done excellent jobs with these trend predictions. NTIA Administrator Ana Gomez praised the NGN project as a pretty good standard for middle mile project, falling short of saying go forth and copy that model.
Maybe there are some minor items that need tweaking. If you did a multi-jurisdictional application, maybe you want to scale back and focus on one region to make sure your data is accurate. (Recall, there were some states that outright threw out applications for consideration to be prioritized if the applicant proposed to serve other states than their own. ) If you lacked sufficient public and anchor institution endorsement or partners, maybe start seeking out some more to sign up and start with that new tool just announced this week. Maybe you didn't get prioritized by your state, perhaps a call or meeting with state and local decision makers is warranted. Maybe you relied on maps or analytical data that was flawed and you know the flaws and what to do to tweak it. Here's the time to tweak. Perhaps, you proposed to serve an unserved area without thoroughly verifying that the area is indeed unserved, it may be a good time to do a double check. In short, there's no reason to just rest and wait for the news, be it good or bad.
That's it for me. I only have a few more hours in the work day to be productive and stop all this gossiping. There. I admit it. This may be just a gossip blog after all.
Posts
Interesting post to your blog as always. Thanks. I'd like to comment on MY number one concern as an applicant for a BTOP PCC grant. I am concerned that we collectively and adequately address the need to hire or train IT security professionals to secure the BTOP funded Public Computing Centers from being used by others to attack our US IT infrastructure from within. Those possessing IT credentials are already in high demand from both private and public sector employers and I am wondering how the PCC's will be protected. If someone, anyone doesn't get a grant who is really focused on the job training component of NTIA's BTOP program specifically training IT to meet the 750,000+ IT job demand the NLRB is expecting in the next few years then we may be vulnerable. For any BTOP funded PCC to provide credible IT job training in the much needed 'Information Security' or INFOSEC speciality you need passion, money, and a committment to achieving the goal of getting people access to an equipped facility, trained by credentialled staff, successful exam completion, and matriculation into an eagerly awaiting employer base. For example, a CISSP credential takes 5 to 7 years of experience, plus training and passing the exams, in addition to the conferences, required to stay abreast of security threats and vulnerabilities which are expensive.
ReplyDeleteThe basis of what I'm trying to add here is that if we focus primarily on Broadband connection, and little on using the funds for Broadband IT job training, specifically securing what we're building then the vulnerability exists for a digital version of 911.
It has nothing to do with the size of a BTOP applicant large or small. Large organizations face IT vulnerabilities equally as do individual households. If botnets have proven themselves to be formidable threats using unwary household PC's, imagine how happy they would be to exploit a vulnerability if the more potentially powerful PCC's.
Being 'Small' shouldn't scare away NTIA from funding these applicants. Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft ALL were started by very passionate people who were committed to achieving a positive goal with NO initial outside funding. The reason I am so excited to watch and participate inthis project is because we're making history in potentially funding and/or facilitating the creation of the next Apple, or Google. Regardless of whether I get awarded a grant or not, I am excited that the opportunity exist for innovation to come from the Unites States as a result of this funding. The United States of America has talent, passion, and a government willing to invest in creating or expanding environments to advance technoloical innovation. For this, I am glad to be a citizen of the United States of America. It's the best brand out there, at least that's my opinion.
Great points all of them. Agreed. I wish you luck on your application and am hopeful that some funding does indeed go towards training which is all too important.
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