RUS and NTIA Will Work Together

Liz Zucco of MarketSys told me to take a look at the fine print of the RUS announcement from June 11th (.pdf) and what she said I'd find is indeed there.

The announcement says:

By early summer 2009, RUS and NTIA will publish a joint Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) in the Federal Register seeking applications for assistance. We anticipate three NOFAs. Timing on the subsequent NOFAs will be dependent upon results from previous NOFAs and our coordination with NTIA and consultation with the FCC as we deploy funds. This implementation plan is subject to change.

What that means is this: there will be a division of labor. It is probable that the RUS will focus on delivering broadband to rural homes and that the NTIA will focus on delivering it to strategic institutions, which the ARRA describes as:

(A) schools, libraries, medical and healthcare providers, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, and other community support organizations and entities to facilitate greater use of broadband service by or through these organizations;

(C) job-creating strategic facilities located within a State-designated economic zone, Economic Development District designated by the Department of Commerce,
Renewal Community or Empowerment Zone designated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or Enterprise Community designated by the Department of Agriculture;

The implication is that EVERYONE needs to learn how to deal with the RUS. Many hope to just deal with the NTIA. If you are one of those, start learning about the RUS now.

People want to deal with the NTIA because its brief is more straightforward: it provides up to 80 percent of hardware costs. That's direct cash. The RUS provides loans, and the paperwork for loans involves a detailed business plan, potentially requiring quarterly forecasts for a 20 year period.