Broadband Stimulus

$7.2 Billion Available

On February 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “Recovery Act” or “ARRA”), which contains historically unprecedented government spending in the amount of $787 billion in an effort to stimulate the economy. The law contains two new programs and appropriates $7.2 billion of new spending on broadband infrastructure deployment and related broadband matters.

The Rural Utility Service (RUS), an agency within the Department of Agriculture will administer $2.5 billion, most likely in low cost loans and loan guarantees. While $4.7 billion in grants will be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which serves as the executive branch agency principally responsible for advising the President on telecommunications and information policies.

Possibility of Three Rounds of Funding

Rules covering administration of the stimulus funds have not been written. Comments are due April 13, 2009 and rules governing the programs are expected a short time after that. Based on the language in the Recovery Act and from statements made by representatives of the NTIA and the RUS, we expect there will be three rounds of grant funding by each agency starting in the second quarter of 2009 and proceeding in the 4th quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of 2010, with approximately one-third of the available funding to be distributed in each round. However, since the rules have not yet been released, this process is still very fluid.

Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC Uniquely Positioned

Bradley & Guzzetta, LLC is uniquely positioned to assist with the application for broadband stimulus funds. Our experience with municipalities, telecommunications providers, cable operators, wireless companies, and community relations will help broker cooperation between various private entities and communities. The era of true public/private partnerships may have arrived!