Broadband Stimulus Strategies

The first round of funding under the Broadband Stimulus Plan attracted more than 2,000 applications requesting almost $28 billion. With approximately $10.5 billion in matching funds committed by the applicants, these projects represent more than $38 billion in proposed broadband projects. This underscores the interest in expanded access to broadband service throughout the country. Applications came in from a diverse range of parties: large and small carriers, state, tribal, and local governments; nonprofits; anchor institutions, such as libraries, universities, community colleges, and hospitals; and public safety organizations. In the words of Vice President Joe Biden: "We're forming the tools that will fashion the work of the 21st century. We are laying the foundation for the economy of tomorrow."

This translates to five salient points for the applicants:

1. The Recovery Act mandates priority for projects that give end users a choice of providers, serve the highest proportion of rural residents that lack access, are projects of current or former RUS borrowers, and are fully funded and ready to start once Recovery Act funding is received. Applicants must maximize efficiency of use of the grants or loans available in order to achieve this objective. This translates to squeezing the most out of their existing networks, and where greenfield builds are necessary, they do smart builds not default to the newest technology.
2. The focus of the Stimulus Plan remains on providing residential services in those unserved and underserved communities. Applicants realize that providing services to residential customers, small businesses, educational institutions, and public safety agencies among others are not mutually exclusive. Applicants must choose solutions and technology that can address the multitude of requirements driven by these diverse applications today and provide a roadmap to meet the needs of the future.
3. There is also well-deserved focus on building middle mile (also referred to as second mile or backhaul) capacity that will ensure that networks can handle the bandwidth demands of the last mile. This implies that middle-mile networks (or core for that matter) should not be ignored. The weakest link dictates final service quality. Like for the last mile, the middle mile will require smart planning, not an approach which throws buzzword-driven technology at the problem. Some soul-searching on “what do I have that can be reused to deliver what I need” is imperative.
4. While the initial focus is going to be on building the networks, operational considerations should not be ignored. It is just as important to ensure that operational aspects of the network are understood and addressed when the network is built and not something that is relegated to the “will be addressed later” category.
5. For those applicants that did not get funding as part of Phase I, it is necessary to evaluate other options and consider technology and budgets that can start the process of providing the services for which they have identified the need. If there is a real and indefinable market need, other sources of funding must be explored. And, yes, there is a Phase II. Remember that Phase II and Phase III have been combined into a single phase.

The solution and technology provider chosen should have a portfolio of products that energizes your existing infrastructure (copper, existing network elements and other aspects) to enable high-bandwidth services with minimal operational costs. That same set of solutions must allow delivery of a variety of services from Ethernet in the First Mile services, to middle-mile applications for backhauling IP DSLAMs and cell towers. They must also support IP-based networks providing intelligent traffic monitoring and control applications and dedicated networks designed for use in environments like public safety agencies or educational institutions. All of this should be done, to the extent possible, on infrastructure that you already have. You can Stimulate Broadband Delivery by putting the strategies above to work! Learn more about Broadband Stimulus strategies that actually work by clicking here. 

Eric Vallone, vice president of marketing at Actelis Networks, is responsible for setting the direction of the company’s product portfolio, as well introducing its products to the market. Prior to Actelis, he was with AT&T, ADTRAN, and Paradyne Networks. His areas of focus included DSLAMs, mobile backhaul, xDSL, VoIP and VoATM products, and network management solutions.