Many interested in broadband stimulus funds
August 27, 2009(AP) -- "Cash for Clunkers" isn't the only economic stimulus program to attract a lot of takers.
The federal government said Thursday it had received requests for a total of $28 billion from groups that want to expand high-speed Internet service in the U.S. The government has $4 billion in loans and grants initially available.
The 2,200 requests came from states, counties, Indian tribes, nonprofits, phone companies, libraries, universities and other groups.
The money will be used to connect rural homes to the Internet, stimulate interest in getting Internet service among groups that don't use it much and expand Internet access in public locations like schools and libraries.
The bulk of the requests - worth $23.2 billion - are to build out Internet lines.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service will pick the winning applicants and announce them in November.
Though competition appears stiff for the first round of financing, those who lose out will have two more rounds in which to compete before the money runs out.
Under Cash for Clunkers, the government paid out nearly $3 billion to discount 700,000 newer cars as replacements for older gas guzzlers.
That program was funded under a $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed in January that also provided $7.2 billion in funding for broadband projects. Because some of this money will be used to fund loans, the total dollar amount handed out will be higher than that.
It is the first time the federal government is making a concerted, large-scale effort to expand Internet access.
The largest phone and cable companies have shown little interest in participating in the program. Qwest Communications International Inc., a phone company that covers vast, thinly populated areas in the West, said it couldn't make a business case for applying.
©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
-
Libraries eye stimulus money for their Web access
May 05, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Novel effort in Minnesota seeks ISP gambling block
Apr 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
FCC gets going on national broadband plan
Apr 08, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Stimulus money should go to lowest bidders, economists say
Apr 20, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Qwest 2Q profit up 18 pct on one-time tax savings
Jul 29, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (33) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
-
How to calculate total compressibility in liquid porous solid system
2 hours ago
-
Need help reading 3-D
21 hours ago
-
A way to send and receive wireless data
Feb 11, 2012
-
Calling function with no input argument
Feb 10, 2012
-
Force free body diagram problem on gym equipment
Feb 10, 2012
-
Empirical data regarding shower heads and water
Feb 10, 2012
- More from Physics Forums - General Engineering
More news stories
Google might launch Drive for cloud storage soon
(PhysOrg.com) -- Google's next big move, according to the Wall Street Journal, is a cloud storage service called Drive. Hardly first to the plate, Google is simply catching up to introducing its cloud reposi ...
Iran blocks email, restricts net access: reports
Iran has further restricted access to the Internet and blocked popular email services for the past few days, in a move a top lawmaker said could "cost the regime dearly," media reports said on Sunday.
3 hours ago |
5 / 5 (1) |
3
Love a click away in Indonesia's Twitter Republic
He was a geeky kid from Yogyakarta, she a glamorous city girl in Jakarta. In a country with one of the world's most vibrant social networking scenes they fell in love on Twitter.
11 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)
(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...
Navy to begin tests on electromagnetic railgun prototype launcher
The Office of Naval Research (ONR)'s Electromagnetic (EM) Railgun program will take an important step forward in the coming weeks when the first industry railgun prototype launcher is tested at a facility ...
Feb 06, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (17) |
94
|
Scientists discover molecular secrets of 2,000-year-old Chinese herbal remedy
For roughly two thousand years, Chinese herbalists have treated Malaria using a root extract, commonly known as Chang Shan, from a type of hydrangea that grows in Tibet and Nepal. More recent studies suggest that halofuginone, ...
New method to examine batteries -- MRI from the inside
There is an ever-increasing need for advanced batteries for portable electronics, such as phones, cameras, and music players, but also to power electric vehicles and to facilitate the distribution and storage of energy derived ...
Lab study raises questions over nano-particle impact
Tests involving chickens have raised questions about the impact on health from engineered nano-particles, the ultra-fine grains commonly used in drugs and processed foods, scientists said on Sunday.
Injured boomers beware: Know when to see doctor
(AP) -- It happened to nurse Jane Byron years after an in-line skating fall, business owner Haralee Weintraub while doing "men's" push-ups, and avid cyclist Gene Wilberg while lifting a heavy box.
A mitosis mystery solved: How chromosomes align perfectly in a dividing cell
Although the process of mitotic cell division has been studied intensely for more than 50 years, Whitehead Institute researchers have only now solved the mystery of how cells correctly align their chromosomes during symmetric ...
Starve a virus, feed a cure? Findings show how some cells protect themselves against HIV
A protein that protects some of our immune cells from the most common and virulent form of HIV works by starving the virus of the molecular building blocks that it needs to replicate, according to research published online ...