High-speed Net providers await details - Dallas Business Journal:

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billion? The answer may be the telecommunicationwindustry — at least if the money is coming from Uncl e Sam with too many strings attached. Executives at companiesz such as Dallas-based are watching and waiting while officials inthe U.S. Commerce and Agriculture Departments figure out how they will make available funds from the stimulus bill forextending high-speed Interner access into rural areas that are either or “underserved.” The $7.2 billion in grantsx will be distributed by Sept. 10, and rules for how that procese will work are expected to be solidifiec in the next four weeksor so. No figuresa are available for how much money mighgt find its way intoNorth Texas.
As with everythin g Washington, the devil is in the details — includin the definitions of “unserved” and “underserved.” Jot Carpenter is vice presidenf of government affairsat CTIA-Thre Wireless Association, a Washington, D.C., trade group formerly knowm as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association. Carpentef says the group — whose member include AT&T’s wireless businesxs and the Richardson wireless-equipment maker — wants to see specifics so its membersd can gauge how and whether to approacjhstimulus grants.
“We need to know what we’rde aiming at here to know whether our member companies (should) decide whethet to apply or not appl for the program,” he says. One issue of concern for large telecom companies is the possibilitu that the Feds will require recipientdof broadband-stimulus funds to open their networks to rivals, allowing othef companies to potentially take away customerws by operating on a givenh carrier’s network. “This is not the appropriat venue tosolve that” debate, Carpente says. “If the places that wouldr benefit (from the stimulus were easy to serve, they’c already have service.
” In a Kerry Hibbs, an AT&T spokesman, says the companty is “now examining the rules being established bythe (Nationakl Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Commerces Department) and the (Rural Utilities Service of the Agriculture with a view toward any ways they mighf advance AT&T’s already-significant investment in broadbanx deployment.” Hibbs’ statement, e-mailedc to the Dallas Business adds that AT&T is ready to work on innovativre programs to help drive broadband deployment and adoption.
Definitions, pleasse Beyond the open Interner issue, another matter of concern to everybody involved is how todefine “unserved” areas, and how that differs from areas. The views of big broadband providere are spelled out in a letter to the Nationao Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Departmentof Agriculture’s Rura l Development program from a Washington, D.C., trade group. The signed by USTelecom’s president and CEO, Walteer McCormick Jr., argues that the definitions “should not relate to the numbef of providers operating in agivebn area.
” Instead, McCormick’s missive maintains, the NTIA shouldr “focus on whether a broadbanx connection is available and whether that connection is sufficientlty robust to provide full participation in today’s Internetg world. Those definitions shouled not relate to the number of provider s operating in agiven area.” Barbarz Lancaster, president of the Richardson telecom consultancy , believesd that when all is said and done, telecoj companies will partake in the stimulus funds. “I think they’rre going to want the she says. “I just don’t see how we can step away from The federal government will doleout $7.
2 billion to help extenxd high-speed Internet access servicesa to rural areas. The rules for who will get the monety and how they will apply are stillbeing determined. Here’s a look at who will be handingt outthe cash: • U.S. Commercr Department’s National Telecommunications & Informationn Administration: $4.7 billion • U.S. Agriculture Department’s Rura l Utilities Service: $2.
5 billion