Eyeing the broadband stimulus skeptically

Not all telecom service providers are eager to get broadband stimulus funds, given the uncertainty that still surrounds the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. At last week's MetaSwitch Forum 2009, in fact, a number of service providers expressed understandable concerns about what accepting federal stimulus money might mean for them.

High on the list of worries was whether accepting federal money would subject a privately owned telecom operator to increased government scrutiny. More than one telecom exec cited the firing of the CEO of General Motors as having a chilling effect on their interest in getting involved with the feds in the first place.

Despite the efforts of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utility Service to open up the process, through a series of forums held in March, there also is still a lot of confusion about what broadband projects will be acceptable in the eyes of the government and whether service providers might find themselves working with new partners, such as municipalities or utility companies.

"I have no objection to partnering," one rural telephone executive told me last week, on condition of anonymity. "But it's like dating — I'd rather pick my partners than have someone pick them for me. I didn't like the idea of blind dating when I was younger, and I like it less now."

Barlow Keener, of Keener Law Group, is encouraging service providers to look at how they can serve libraries, schools, hospitals and other community organizations that can share the widest benefits of broadband.

The other concern that comes up frequently is how to meet the oft-stated requirement to be "shovel-ready" for a project without having a project be disqualified as already on the books. There is even concern that some projects might be delayed while investors wait to see if they can get stimulus funding.

Larry Irving, former NTIA director and now co-chair of the Internet Innovation Alliance, said the latter question comes down to whether a project already had funding lined up.