Many technology and economic programs here in Southwest Missouri have depended on the availability of broadband access to support long-term economic growth and opportunity for the area. Earlier this year when the government’s stimulus funding was announced, one of the programs being addressed was funding for broadband access for underserved and unserved communities that lack speed internet data access to support schools, libraries, health-care providers, public safety agencies, telehealth program, urban-renewal groups, groups that serve low-income and elderly populations, community colleges, and institutions of higher education.
On Tuesday, November 10th, the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, BTOP)
announced that the remaining two funding and loan programs would be consolidated into just one round “to increase efficiency and better accommodate applicants”. The amount of funding applications requested has totaled $28 billion in funding, which amounts to seven times the available funding ($4.7 billion) in that round. With funding awards expected to be announced in December 2009, it would be important to know who were the applicants and their proposed work for southwest Missouri. It must be noted that NTIA will utilize $4.7 billion for grants to deploy broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas in the United States, expand public computer center capacity, and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.
To that end, the government had made available a searchable database of all the RUS and BTOP applications which seeks to stimulate the development of broadband access that will enable greater connectivity for all concerned. I took a quick study of applicants in the southwest Missouri area and found some interesting projects that hopefully seek to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband services. These applications range from developing self-serve centers providing free broadband access to be implemented at public safety and human services agencies, to upgrading existing lines as well as the building of new capacities for new and existing users.
Many of the applications are for a “Last Mile Non-Remote Area” which translates as wireless broadband access for underserved and unserved areas. Interestingly, the government requested public responses to the applications and those responses seem to come from competitors of the applications that in effect seek to disprove that the targeted areas are unserved or underserved and ask that the application be denied as their investments would suffer as a result of this expansion. There are also applications that are educational in nature in that they seek to provide (i) digital literacy education; (ii) substantial discounts on new broadband enabled computers and (iii) affordable broadband services. There is also training for workforce readiness, job seeking skills, using computer software and hardware, and Library resources to meet the information needs for small businesses and other target audiences.
While many of the applications range from $5 million to $15 million they will affect not only southwest Missouri but overlaps surrounding states of Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Feedback is still being taken and it does appear that the any remaining funding on projects will be targeting community colleges, schools, libraries, health care facilities, and public safety organizations.
We are hopeful that the southwest Missouri region will indeed be successful in the funding process so that the educational, economic and development needs of the targeted communities will be met.






