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US unveils federal broadband stimulus projects |
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Written by Network News Journal Staff
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Thursday, 17 December 2009 |
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US VP JOE BIDEN HAS ANNOUNCED the first federal stimulus money for 18 projects to expand high-speed Internet networks in rural areas and other underserved communities.
The broadband projects are the first part of an overall $7.2 billion plan to bring high-speed Internet to rural areas, poor neighborhoods and Native American communities. The US plans to award a total of $2 billion in grants and loans over the next 75 days.
The federal money is being targeted at "last-mile" connections that link homes, businesses and other end users to the Internet; "middle-mile" connections that link communities to the Internet backbone; computing centers in libraries, colleges and other public facilities; and adoption programs that teach people how to use the Internet and encourage them to sign up for broadband services.
The awards announced Thursday include: • A $33.5 million grant to the North Georgia Network Cooperative for a fiber-optic ring that will bring high-speed Internet connections to the northern Georgia foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The project will serve an eight-county area with a population of 334,000. • A $25.4 million grant to the Biddleford Internet Corp., a partnership between the University of Maine and service providers, to build three fiber-optic rings across rural Maine. The network will pass through more than 100 communities with 110,000 households and will connect 10 University of Maine campuses. • A combined grant/loan of $2.4 million to the Consolidated Electric Cooperative in north central Ohio to build a 166-mile fiber network that will be used, among other things, to connect 16 electrical substations to support a smart grid project. • Other projects receiving funds include a 4G wireless network to be built by an Alaska Native Corporation in southwestern Alaska, a fiber-to-the-home project in a remote corner of New Hampshire and computer centers for 84 libraries in Arizona. |
