RUS gets into high gear on awarding stimulus funds

Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein chose the winter convention of the Organization for the Promotion and Advance of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) in San Diego this week to announce 14 additional recipients of broadband stimulus funding. Those awards, which are for projects in 11 states, have a total value of nearly $310 million, making this the largest broadband stimulus award announcement from either the RUS or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to date.

“After gearing up for a while, our grant making machine is now moving forward in high gear,” Adelstein told OPASTCO attendees in his address.

Adelstein also said the RUS will begin sending out letters within the next week to inform applicants that will not receive funding in the first round so that they can begin to get their new applications together for the second round. Earlier this month, the RUS and NTIA announced new guidelines for the second round, including a February 16-March 15 filing period.

Most winners in the new batch of RUS awards will receive funding as a combination of a loan and a grant. Some projects also will be funded, in part, through private investment. The new awards went to organizations in 11 states, including:

· United Utilities for middle mile connectivity to 65 Alaska communities
· Butler Telephone Co. for DSL to unserved households in Alabama
· Adeamus for a fiber-based last mile project in California
· C-M-L Telephone Cooperative Assoc for a fiber optic network in Iowa
· F & B Communications for another fiber network in Iowa
· La Motte Telephone Company for a Wi-Max installation in Iowa
· Rural Telephone Service for a project in western Kansas and a small part of Nebraska
· North Central Telephone Cooperative for a triple play network in Tennessee
· Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company for a fiber Ethernet system
· Ralls County Electric Cooperative for a fiber network in Missouri
· BEK Communications Cooperative for a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network in North Dakota
· Halstad Telephone Cooperative for another North Dakota FTTP network
· Gervais Telephone Company for expansion of its fiber network
· NTELOS Telephone for a fiber-based project in Virginia

Several projects--including C-M-L, F & B, North Central Telephone, and Northeast Louisiana Telephone--were called out in a press release from the RUS for their ability to provide speeds exceeding 20 Mb/s.

“I believe, and this President believes, that you all have a big role in jumpstarting our rural economy,” Adelstein told OPASTCO attendees. “We see broadband as a central means by which we can create a stronger economy.

Adelstein said broadband not only can generate jobs in building out networks. “It also helps us develop an adaptive, educated workforce, better health care, better cultural opportunities and a better quality of life in rural America,” he said. “Most importantly, it lays the groundwork for future economic growth.”