Skip the navigation
News

Large broadband providers pass up stimulus funding

By Grant Gross
August 14, 2009 02:49 PM ET

IDG News Service - Three of the four largest broadband providers in the U.S. say they will not apply for broadband deployment stimulus funding from the U.S. government, and a fourth said it is unlikely to apply as the deadline for the first round of funding nears.

Representatives of AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner Cable all said late this week that their companies will not apply for broadband deployment funding approved in a huge economic stimulus package passed early this year. In addition, representatives of Verizon Communications and Verizon Wireless said it was unlikely that they would apply for stimulus funding.

The $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding was pushed by President Barack Obama and several consumer groups in an effort to provide universal access to broadband across the country. The first round of funding, in which the application deadline has been extended from Friday to Aug. 20, will distribute about $4 billion in deployment grants and loans, with awards scheduled for November.

Representatives of some of the companies did not respond when asked why they would not apply. But AT&T, in a statement, said the company has "closely examined the current rules and, as others have expressed, [has] concerns about the complexity and uncertainty they create for grant applicants."

"AT&T remains supportive of the federal government’s effort to fund greater broadband deployment and adoption throughout the states," the company said. "In fact, we applaud any initiatives that will ultimately result in the creation of a national broadband strategy with the goal of 100 percent broadband availability and a 100 percent broadband take-rate. AT&T is already making significant broadband investments."

In July, USTelecom, a trade group that counts AT&T and Verizon among its members, sent letters to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) about the requirements the two agencies will include with the grants. The letters raised particular concern about net neutrality rules, saying the NTIA's rules create "broad, new and open-ended nondiscrimination and interconnection requirements" beyond what's required by the Federal Communications Commission.

Earlier this week, Qwest Communications International, a broadband provider in the mostly rural Mountain West region of the U.S., also said it would not apply for broadband stimulus funds, with the company pointing to the complaints raised by USTelecom. Many rural areas are among the parts of the U.S. without broadband service.

Qwest has about 2.9 million broadband customers. AT&T is the largest broadband provider in the U.S. with 16.9 million subscribers, and Comcast is second with 15.3 million customers. Verizon counts 9.1 million subscribers, and Time Warner has about 9 million subscribers.

Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2010 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

IT in Government White Papers
Virtualizing Government Infrastructure
All server virtualization solutions are not created equal. The more-with-less agenda for government agencies is tailor-made for server virtualization, which is evolving into...
Overcome Top 7 Admin Challenges of Active Directory
As Active Directory's role in the enterprise has drastically increased, so has the need to secure the data. Gain insight on creating repeatable,...
Insiders Can Ruin Your Company. Take Action.
Did you know that 80 percent of threats to an organization come from the inside? The threat from insiders is often overlooked in...
Top Solutions and Tools to Prevent Devastating Malware
Custom malware frequently goes undetected. According to Forrester Research, the best way to reduce risk of breach is to deploy file integrity monitoring...
Streamline Compliance and Increase ROI
Streamline, simplify, and automate compliance related activities; especially those that impact multiple business units. This white paper from NetIQ, outlines solutions that will...
All IT in Government White Papers
IT in Government Webcasts
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
All IT in Government Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs