The recently enacted “stimulus” legislation, or American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“Recovery Act”), has the potential to substantially upgrade and enhance the American nationwide broadband network. The Recovery Act does this principally by allocating an unprecedented $7.2 billion (to be awarded primarily through grants and loans) to promote high-speed Internet programs.
Entities eligible to apply for grants and loans under the lead National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) program stand to be direct beneficiaries. Such entities include service providers (where the NTIA finds their participation to be in the public interest — e.g., broadband and infrastructure providers). The Recovery Act does not appear to place restrictions on supported technologies, meaning that wireline, wireless and satellite technologies should all be covered. Also eligible are states, counties, municipalities and other government entities as well as the U.S. territories. Finally, nonprofit entities (including nonprofit corporations) are eligible to participate. In short, a wide range of eligible entities will compete for grants and loans through a bidding process managed by the Department of Commerce’s NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service (“RUS”) of the Department of Agriculture.
The Recovery Act charges the RUS and the NTIA with making grants and loans to expand broadband deployment and for other important broadband projects. Of the $7.2 billion allocated for this effort, the NTIA was allocated $4.7 billion in total grant funds and the RUS will administer $2.5 billion in grants and loans.
The Recovery Act also assigns to the FCC the overarching duty of creating a national broadband plan. By early next year, the FCC is required to deliver to Congress a national broadband plan that seeks to ensure that every American has access to broadband capability and establishes clear benchmarks for meeting that goal. While NTIA, RUS and the FCC have stated that they intend to work cooperatively in this effort, each has a distinct and separate role, and grant/loan applications will need to be submitted before the proper government authority.
Little is known about program details at this time. Application windows are expected to open in the near future but filing windows have not, as of press time, been established. It is expected that grant and loan processes will move swiftly, however. Applications will also need to be filed in conformity with specific rules and formats; however, much of this has yet to be established. NTIA and the RUS are discussing a common application form to make it easier for entities to file grant applications with both government entities. In short, while the programs have been launched by the Recovery Act, staffing and procedure implementation is presently ongoing at the NTIA and RUS.
While uncertainty looms, the program has the potential to greatly enhance the American high speed broadband infrastructure, leading to new technologies and services, new competitive opportunities, employment opportunities and access by all Americans to the same robust broadband services. In fact, the FCC goes even further when it states, “high-speed ubiquitous broadband can help to restore America’s economic well-being and open the doors of opportunity for more Americans, no matter who they are, where they live, or the particular circumstances of their lives. It is technology that intersects with just about every great challenge facing our nation.”
