Reps say broadband stimulus rules complex, murky, rigid

As the dust settles on guidelines the Obama administration released for the $7.2 billion broadband stimulus program, lawmakers are beginning to raise concerns that the hurried effort has led to rigid requirements, inconsistencies and murky definitions.

House Agriculture Rural Development Subcommittee ranking member Mike Conaway, R-Texas, complained at a hearing today about conditions requiring recipients of broadband grants to refrain from favoring proprietary content on their Internet systems and permit the interconnection of competing carriers. "I'm concerned that these new requirements would prevent new applicants from applying," Conaway warned.

Grants and loans to be doled out by Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration are aimed at extending broadband to unserved and underserved households.

Senior NTIA adviser Mark Seifert testified that a "rudimentary" nationwide map of broadband availability won't be available until January or February -- well after both agencies plan to award the first of three waves of grants and loans in early November. The map, to be compiled by states with federal assistance, is considered integral to ensuring that the money reaches communities requiring it the most.

Rural Development Subcommittee Chairman Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., said he's worried that unserved rural communities will not be eligible for the grants, which are designated for remote areas with populations under 20,000 and at least 50 miles from nonrural areas.

"I've found zero of all 100 counties in North Carolina are eligible for grants" under the definition, he said.

Cheryl Cook, deputy Agriculture undersecretary for rural development, responded that ineligible communities could still qualify for loan-grant combinations, adding that her department will clarify its "remote" definition in the next two weeks.

"We're concerned by what we saw in the broadband stimulus rules issued last week," said Walter McCormick, head of the U.S. Telecom Association. "They are exceedingly complex. Some of them impose new and prescriptive requirements that go well beyond existing law and FCC rules."

Conaway, who voted against President Obama's economic stimulus package, expressed concern that the broadband funding might be directed mostly to states or districts represented by influential Democrats, or those facing difficult re-election battles.

NTIA was careful to include Los Angeles, Boston and Charleston, W.Va., among the venues for 10 public workshops it is conducting to help parties apply for broadband funds.

Los Angeles is represented in part by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, while Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman John Kerry represents Massachusetts and Senate Commerce Chairman John (Jay) Rockefeller hails from West Virginia.

An NTIA spokesman was not immediately available for comment.