Second Comment Document
Executive Summary
FirstMile.US Comments to NTIA/RUS on ARRA Funding
Docket Number 090309298-9299-01
Read the full set of comments in an PDF version.
Executive Summary
FirstMile.US is 501c3 nonprofit organization headquartered in California. Since 2005, our mission has been to educate and advocate regarding the promise of big broadband in the United States. Our vision is that every member of the American public has access to big broadband, the 21st century pathway to a better overall quality of life.We believe that widespread open broadband deployment will create jobs. There will be initial job creation directly from the ARRA funding and secondary job creation once broadband deployment is final and adoption has begun.
Initial job creation will be catalyzed if NTIA and RUS focus on funding of strategically located “open” middle mile infrastructure(s) paired with low-cost, regional “community connection points”. We believe this funding ideology will create the most initial jobs: 1) the federally funded jobs created to build the middle mile and 2) the locally funded jobs created to build the first mile to residences and businesses (made affordable by the federal investment in the costly middle mile and interconnection mechanism.)
Secondary job creation to meet the country’s ‘grand challenges’ -- healthcare, public safety, education, civic participation, energy independence/efficiency, and economic growth – will be enabled the adoption of broadband and through the other ARRA spending. Smart grids are one example of two ARRA funding projects – broadband and Smart Grid software – that can have a catalytic effect on each other.
We believe the NTIA and RUS should ensure that applicants not only understand the technology that they are proposing to deploy, but also the effects of that technology on the community. We have included a sample community readiness assessment to illustrate this idea.
Read the full set of comments in a PDF version.