[1st-mile-nm] White House: Broadband Initiative

[Richard Lowenberg]

Accelerating Broadband Infrastructure Deployment Across the United 
States

(excerpts from the White House announcement)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/16/accelerating-broadband-infrastructure-deployment-across-united-states

... the Administration is working to bolster broadband deployment is by 
reducing barriers for companies to install broadband infrastructure on 
Federal properties and roads. The Federal Government owns or manages 
nearly 30 percent of all land in the United States, including 10,000 
buildings nationwide. These properties can provide excellent pathways 
for deployment of broadband infrastructure. That’s why, last year, 
President Obama signed an Executive Order to make broadband construction 
projects along Federal roadways and properties cheaper and more 
efficient.

Today, we are announcing new steps to build on this progress, including 
the launch of several new tools and resources to help make it easier for 
companies to build out high-speed Internet, particularly in underserved 
communities, and the release of a progress report  on implementation of 
the President’s Executive Order. Both the tools and the report were 
developed by a Federal Working Group made up of 14 Federal agencies 
charged with managing Federal properties and roads.

Some of the tools and resources for broadband carriers released today, 
in response to recommendations from the Working Group, include:

-  An interactive mapping tool  that allows carriers and communities to 
view and identify opportunities to leverage Federal properties for the 
deployment of high-speed Internet networks.

-  A “Dig Once” guide,  which includes best practices and policies to 
help carriers time their broadband deployment activities to periods when 
streets are already under construction—an approach that can reduce 
network deployment costs along Federal roadways by up to 90 percent.

-  A new broadband inventory toolkit  that can serve as a one-stop shop 
for companies to access permitting forms, lease agreements, and other 
Federal broadband application documents from various agencies.

         In addition, the General Services Administration, as directed 
in the Executive Order, is working to implement common forms and 
templates across agencies, such as a single master application for 
deploying broadband on Federal properties, to provide multiple broadband 
service providers and public-safety entities with streamlined business 
documents for the deployment of wireline and wireless facilities on 
Federal property. Going forward, the Department of Agriculture is also 
working to develop an on-line electronic application form to further 
streamline the process.

     In the coming weeks, we will also be launching an online broadband 
projects platform, located on the Department of Transportation’s Federal 
Infrastructure Projects Permitting Dashboard , which will allow agencies 
to identify and expedite key broadband projects and to publicly track 
their status.

(snip)



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Richard Lowenberg, Executive Dir.
1st-Mile Institute, 505-603-5200
P.O.Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504
www.1st-mile.org  rl at 1st-mile.org
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