Broadband Stimulus and E-rate

You've probably heard about the federal stimulus package and the broadband plan within that. Bob Cooper and others have sent emails to wired-mt on it.

I'll try to explain some of the basics of it here briefly. There are two agencies overseeing the broadband stimulus applications - USDA RUS (Rural Utilities Service) has BIP (Broadband Infrastructure Program) and Department of Commerce NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) has BTOP (Broadband Technology Opportunities Program). We are currently in the first of three rounds. The application deadline for the first round is August 14, 2009.

BIP is directed solely toward rural telephone and internet service providers but your library may be able to benefit from it if your service provider applies and received funding. I've talked with representatives from most of the regional telephone cooperatives in Montana over the past couple of weeks. Many of them are planning to apply for grants or loans in this first round. It's in their interest to partner with community anchor institutions like libraries, schools and healthcare facilities. They can get more points for their applicaiton that way. So, your library may be able to beneift by partnering with your telco and/or providing letters of support to their applications.

BTOP also has a large infrastructure component in this first round. But the parts that seem more pertinent to libraries are the public computer center and sustainable broadband adoption programs. There is a 20% match required for all NTIA funds. The match can be in kind and you can also request a waiver. If you want more information, start with ALA's Know Your Stimulus website. They have links to the applications and guidelines, archived webinars, FAQs, etc. I'm not going to give a lot more information here aside from quoting ALA as to whether or not your library should attempt to apply in this round: "It depends on the nature of your project and the quality of your application. If you are confident you can get all the required pieces together and make your case by the first round deadline of August 14th you should consider applying in round one."

Why am I going into this on the E-rate blog? First, if you're considering increasing your library's bandwidth (and after all my rants I certainly hope everyone is!), the broadband stimulus program is certainly something to be aware of and try to take advantage of either via your or your telco's applications. And higher bandwidth costs can certainly be subsidized by E-rate.

But you have to plan for that now! Both with updated technology plans and a Form 470 requesting higher speeds/capacity. You might also want to keep in mind that E-rate discounts can be applied to last mile projects - getting fiber optic cable into your library.

Rounds 2 and 3 have yet to be announced. But let's make sure our E-rate tech plans and applications are ready to support these opportunities.