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What's the Public CIO's Role With Broadband Stimulus? Part 2

June 12, 2009 By Craig Settles

Last week I tackled the role of the public CIO in the broadband stimulus grant program. The main theme was that, for a better shot at winning a grant, CIOs need to approach community networks as business ventures that must raise and/or save enough money so you can afford to use them to benefit currently unserved and underserved constituents.

I want to drop from that 30,000-foot view down to look at some of the nuts and bolts of conducting effective needs analysis, and forming good partnerships. These are particularly important given recent developments with the grant disbursement schedule.

Originally the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) indicated they would begin the funding process in May or June of this year. Communities that had been planning a network for months geared up to jump on the first grant train leaving. However, bureaucratic reality set in and funds won't start flowing until the end of December.

This creates some major issues that need to be resolved. A December grant payout (assuming you win) means Northern and Midwestern states aren't breaking any ground on projects until the spring thaw -- say March, April next year. Even in Southern and Western states, there'll be added weeks for paperwork processing.

Had you applied for a grant in May and lost, at least you'd be able to put the project into your 2010 budgets or secure other funding to start the project before winter. If you don't win a grant in December, it's too late to budget it. And if you budget the project or find other funding now, you aren't eligible for stimulus grants since you can only get money if the network can't be funded any other way.

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Short Broadband Stimulus Deadline Worries CIOs

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