[1st-mile-nm] Qwest Applies for RUS Broadband Stimulus Funding

[Oberlander, Susan, DCA]

Has anyone seen what is planned for NM?

Susan Oberlander, Ph.D.
N.M.State Librarian
505 476 9762

-----Original Message-----
From: 1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org
[mailto:1st-mile-nm-bounces at mailman.dcn.org] On Behalf Of Richard
Lowenberg
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 10:59 AM
To: 1st-mile-nm at mailman.dcn.org
Subject: [1st-mile-nm] Qwest Applies for RUS Broadband Stimulus Funding

http://news.qwest.com/BroadbandApplication

Qwest Seeks Federal Grant to Deploy Broadband to Rural Communities

Would Extend Broadband at Connection Speeds of 12 to 40 Mbps

DENVER, March 25, 2010 ? Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q) has filed an
application for a federal stimulus grant to extend broadband at speeds
of 12 to
40 Mbps to rural communities throughout its local service region.
?Much like the water and electric programs the government established to
encourage rural development, federal grants are needed to enable the
deployment
of broadband to high-cost, unserved areas,? said Steve Davis, senior
vice
president of Qwest Public Policy and Government Relations.

In its application, Qwest proposes to build facilities to serve more
than half a
million homes, schools, businesses and hospitals that lack access to
today?s
high-speed Internet capabilities. It plans to introduce the service at
download
speeds of 12 to 40 Mbps. Customers will be able to choose from a full
array of
broadband services and features.

The total cost of the proposed deployment would be $467 million. Qwest
is
requesting a grant for $350 million from the Broadband Initiatives
Program
(BIP), which is administered by the Rural Utilities Service, an agency
of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). When Congress enacted the
American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act last year, it directed the USDA to
establish a
program that would stimulate broadband deployment to hard-to-serve rural
areas.
The BIP provides 75 percent of the build-out costs. The remaining 25
percent, or
$117 million, would be funded by Qwest.

The rural communities included in Qwest?s broadband application are
located
throughout its local service region, which is comprised of 14 Midwestern
and
Western states. The area features expansive terrain where the
construction of
broadband facilities is expensive and difficult, making the one-time
federal
funding necessary.

?Our plan to deploy service to customers in unserved rural areas
supports the
national initiative recently undertaken by the Federal Communications
Commission to ensure that all Americans have access to broadband. As the
FCC
has found, access to the Internet is increasingly essential for
competing and
succeeding in the world?s expanding knowledge-based economy,? Davis
said.



-- 
Richard Lowenberg
1st-Mile Institute
P.O. Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
505-989-9110;   505-603-5200 cell
rl at 1st-mile.com  www.1st-mile.com

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