With the “end-date” for using the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program funds allocated by the 2009 Recovery Act approaching later this week, the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which oversaw the BTOP initiative, said the program created jobs and increased economic growth in affected communities, but that more work needs to be done.
Speaking on September 28 at NTIA’s Digital New England Community Broadband Summit in Maine, NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said that the BTOP projects had laid or upgraded more than 114,000 miles of broadband infrastructure, “most of it fiber.”
“[C]ommunities that received our broadband grant funds experienced an estimated 2 percent greater growth in broadband availability than non-grant communities. The report also concluded that the additional broadband infrastructure built by our grantees could be expected to create more than 22,000 long-term jobs and generate more than $1 billion in additional household income each year,” Mr. Strickling said.
He cited BTOP projects in the summit’s host state, including the Three-Ring Binder project that created “1,100 miles of dark-fiber network across the state consisting of three interconnecting fiber rings.” However, he said that the broadband speeds required for various applications will only increase, and “we’re going to be constantly chasing a goal that gets larger and larger.”
“Even though the Recovery Act grant program is complete, President Obama has continued to emphasize the importance of broadband,” Mr. Strickling, pointing to, among other things, the Broadband Opportunity Council recommendations unveiled last week (TRDaily, Sept. 21). Continue reading