The long road to expand NH broadband - NH Business Review: Federal requirements for the CARES Act — such as the requirement broadband networks are prepared to make residential connections by Dec. 15 or else not be reimbursed — were meant to expedite projects to meet immediate needs. Bordering on unrealistic, the guidelines were criticized by the Monadnock Broadband Group and others interviewed by NH Business Review for excluding efforts that were already underway or could have made planning inroads with financial assistance. “We put an initial $50 million into the fund because it was completely unknown what the application process would yield,” said Sununu. “I think we could have done a lot more with this money, but we just didn’t have the time. That was one of the biggest drawbacks is the time constraints the federal government put on these dollars.”States desperately need federal funding to build fiber to the premise advanced telecom infrastructure now that homes due to pandemic public health measures now serve as workplaces, classroom, medical clinics and require robust symmetric connectivity. Feeling the pain most sharply are homes lacking access to commercial fiber providers due to neighborhood redlining and monthly rates out of reach for economically stressed households.
As this article highlights, navigating the tight constraints placed available federal funding is producing frustration. CARES Act funding is designed as short term emergency funding to help state and local governments cover costs related to responding to the pandemic and not specifically purposed for longer term infrastructure projects.
1 comment:
Dead on accurate. A lot of states miscalculated the ability to use short-term CARES funding to build long-term infrastructure.
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