Following criticism from many areas over the rules laid down by the US Government during the first round of stimulus funding it has promised a process that is far more effective and this should provide hope for anyone planning to apply to the Commerce Department for broadband stimulus during the second stimulus phase.
An extra $4.8 billion is to be added to the loans and grants for the adoption and expansion of broadband all over the country through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act as part of the second round of stimulus funding according to a recent announcement from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The administrator for the RUS, Jonathan Adelstein advised “In response to lessons learned from the first funding round, RUS is making important changes that will make the process easier for applicants and target our resources toward ‘last-mile’ broadband connections to homes and businesses.”
There will be two main funding options that will be made available by the RUS which is making plans the providing funding for middle mile and last mile projects. In the more remote rural areas of the Country there will be a plan offering 100 percent of the cost in funding while a 50 percent loan and 50 percent grant will be made available under the other plan to other areas of the country. In order to provide more flexibility for RUS if it requires a waiver for further funding for areas where it is difficult to serve there will also be a 75/25 grant / loan option available too.
Major targets for the stimulus in terms of rolling out wireless broadband services like WiMAX include municipal institutions like public safety institutions, hospitals and community colleges, and also the more rural parts of the country.
Source – Going Wimax