Speaking Tuesday at a wireless telecommunications conference, Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, Associate Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration at the Commerce Department, and David Villano, Assistant Administrator of Telecommunications Programs at the Department of Agriculture, both announced that their agencies' guidelines for disbursing the $7.2 billion appropriated in the stimulus legislation for broadband expansion in underserved and underserved areas of the United States will be issued this summer. Villano promised USDA guidelines by June 30, but McGuire-Rivera would only commit Commerce to "sometime this summer."
It remains to be seen whether broadband service purveyors will be interested in applying for grant funding once the guidelines are released. Industry leaders have been saying they don't want the funds if restrictions on their network expansion connected with the appropriated money are too onerous from their point of view.
It remains to be seen whether broadband service purveyors will be interested in applying for grant funding once the guidelines are released. Industry leaders have been saying they don't want the funds if restrictions on their network expansion connected with the appropriated money are too onerous from their point of view.
