[RTC List] Local Broadband Stimulus Money

[Josh Koenig]

I think the questions raised so far are all fair, and to be sure the
"we've got it, just let us do our thing" attitude is frustrating, and
all to typical of the emerging Obama administration culture. However,
I do think Chris makes an exceptionally salient point about the
requirement for rapid implementation, and the realities of what trying
to incorporate all potential local stakeholders will mean in terms of
timelines.

I just watched a little City Council session on public access about a
wireless tower in Eureka. Not that the people don't have a right to
utilize these forums, but the reality is that when you open projects
like this up, its easy to take two or three years to build a single
cell phone tower.

Surely there must be a proactive way forward in which the RTC can
deliver the best of its accumulated expertise as a gift to the
planners behind the stimulus-driven projects. It doesn't sound like
they have a terrible idea, and maybe with a few (even un-solicited)
pointers, the fiber they look to lay can be of real enduring value to
the region. Heck, if it solves our redundancy issues and lays local
backbone for future expansion in a sane way, that's a win as far as
I'm concerned.

-j

On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 12:50 AM, Mike
<mike-redwoodtech at tiedyenetworks.com> wrote:
>
> Larry & all:
>
>        Yeah, what you said. I've been watching this shape up and I don't like
> it one bit. We would benefit from participating in the larger efforts
> and in particular would find it useful to have funding or access to
> grant writing services and consultants to get that polished final
> product ready when the grants are opened up, but nobody I have
> communicated with (and who is 'in' on this process) seems to be willing
> to do that. There is that single minded mindset like "this is just what
> we're going to do and sorry you've busted your ass for 7 years here, now
> the money has arrived we don't need you anymore...".
>
>        To be sure, since we're not invited to the party, we're simply going to
> pitch rus/ntia directly. I don't think there is anyone in mendocino
> county that knows the situation here better or who has _demonstrated_,
> funding or not, the impetus and resourcefulness to actually go after the
> problems here and build a viable business out of it anyways. I think
> this raises the likelyhood that any grants received will result in
> sustainable business, as opposed to big expensive fiber to nowhere
> that's fine until the money runs out and it's all dark and does nothing
> for nobody.
>
> Mike-
>
>
>
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-- 
--------------------
Josh Koenig, Partner & CTO
http://www.chapterthree.com