Exploring Which Projects Got Broadband Stimulus Funds Middle mile, single state telco and private-public plans dominate... Ed Gubbins at Telephony Online takes a look at last week's broadband stimulus award winners (full list here) and picks out the trends, highlighting what kind of outfits are likely to sop up the remaining $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funds moving forward. According to Gubbins, phone companies were far more likely to win funding than cable operators, as were private-public partnerships -- and network planners operating within one state. Middle-mile projects (interoffice transport, backhaul, Internet connectivity, or special access, as defined by the NOFA) took two thirds of the nearly $183 million in awards.
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 | | Little ROI from poor communities OKLAHOMA: Southeast Oklahoma, The Pine Telephone Company, $9.5 grant with an additional $4.6 million in private funds to provide services to an entirely remote, rural, unserved and severely economically disadvantaged community. In other words, Pine can't afford to pay for the build out themselves as there is little ROI. | |
|  |  powerhogStinkin' up the jointPremium
join:2000-12-14
Owasso, OK | Re: Little ROI from poor communities From the OKC paper:
quote:
According to its application, the project area is entirely within Choctaw Nation tribal lands and encompasses 1,922 square miles of often rugged and isolated terrain; areas that can only be served wirelessly.
Nearly 5,000 households could be served, according to the application, along with 12 volunteer fire department and ambulance services and 10 school districts.
If you're talking strictly 'business', then you are correct in that the ROI isn't there- which is why they have no opportunity to purchase broadband.
But this is a government program which is meant to defeat the ROI barrier and bring service to areas where it's not currently offered (or underserved). This sounds like an ideal situation for the plan's intent... much better than the $45 million spent to wire affluent Houston suburbs a few years ago. | |
| | | | | Re: Little ROI from poor communities I don't have a lot of problems building out a subsidized service, other than its taxpayer money.
The most egregious USDA rural grant was for an upscale housing development wireless that blocked wireless access to homes outside the development's property line. | |
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iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| If cable companies already have a fiber middle mile... ...they probably don't need he money. A DOCSIS 3 upgrade pays for itself quickly, as do plant upgrades to 860MHz or 1GHz. Of course, if the cableco is having to buy bandwidth via a telco loop it's a whole other story and they should get middle mile funding, but in comparison to rolling out FTTH or rural ADSL2+ cable plant upgrades are cheap and are amortized quickly. | |
| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
kudos:1 | Re: If cable companies already have a fiber middle mile... said by iansltx:...they probably don't need he money. A DOCSIS 3 upgrade pays for itself quickly, as do plant upgrades to 860MHz or 1GHz. D3 upgrade is easy, headend and D3 tier subscriber modems is only thing u touch. Bandwidth upgrade, oh boy, I don't have exactly numbers, but you need to replace everything except the hardline coax on the pole. The amps/line extenders, the fiber nodes, fiber optic splitters, the splitters and taps. You can not compare a D3 upgrade to a bandwidth upgrade on HFC.
said by iansltx: Of course, if the cableco is having to buy bandwidth via a telco loop it's a whole other story and they should get middle mile funding, but in comparison to rolling out FTTH or rural ADSL2+ cable plant upgrades are cheap and are amortized quickly. A bandwidth upgrade on HFC is still much cheaper than FTTH. Not too sure what a ADSL2 upgrade vs bandwidth upgrade is cost wise. HFC you already have the fiber deep into the neighborhood on the poles, ADSL2 you don't. HFC you have to replace amps and splitters and taps, ADSL2 you don't usually touch the copper. | |
| |  rawgerzThe hell was that?Premium
join:2004-10-03
Grove City, PA | What MSOs buy their bandwidth from ILECs?
That just seems unprofessional. Even the 16th largest MSO here uses sprint,XO, etc.
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You can't make all the people happy all of the time. But it should be common sense to shoot for the majority. | |
| | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
kudos:2
1 edit | Re: If cable companies already have a fiber middle mile... Take me back. Not enough coffee. | |
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