Washington, D.C.

March 4, 2009

Dear Broadband Executive:

Billions of dollars are becoming available for shovel-ready broadband projects as the result of the economic stimulus package recently signed into law by President Obama. This represents new hope for broadband carriers and vendors alike, who have been facing the prospect of declining revenues and corporate downsizings.

Now there is a Journal that will be your advocate in finding this money. The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects is dedicated to identifying how these funds will be disbursed and how to best connect with that process and be successful.

Subscribers will receive full reports twice per month, as well as off-week blogs, to get the latest news in this critical funding area. Covering both Commerce's NTIA and Agriculture's Office of Rural Development broadband programs, let The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects be your eyes and ears on Washington, D.C. as these critical policies are formulated. Put us in your tool box as you seek to connect with billions in exposed federal revenues.

Your ability to crack the federal code and receive shovel-ready broadband project funding will determine whether your fiscal year is successful or not. Is there any question that you should have everything going for you that you possibly can?

People ask us why we are moving so fast after the stimulus bill became law to create this new publication. Well, when a popular President like President Obama says these funds need to get in the economy quickly, we believe him. The fact is that time is now of the essence, and the race is going to the swift. There is enormous pressure being placed on these two agencies to produce. And that means things are moving fast, faster than you or I are used to federal agencies moving.

All of the $7 billion has to be spent by September of next year. That is an average of nearly $400 million every month! This may be your company's chance of a lifetime. How you interpret and act in coming months will be the difference between winning and losing. Let us help you.

In this particular case, what you don't know most definitely will hurt you.

First of all, beginning today, NTIA is starting to interview prospective proposal winners. Your project team needs to be at NTIA headquarters making your presentation, telling NTIA officials why your project will provide broadband to unserved and underserved areas in a way that will help America. (If you haven't already, contact Barbara Brown at 202-482-4374 to set up your appointment at NTIA.)

Certainly there are a lot of questions that haven't been answered. What will be the actual language of the NTIA and RUS solicitations? How will “unserved” and “underserved” be defined? How will “broadband” be defined?

In short, you need your finger on the pulse of everything that comes out about this program. That is where The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects comes in.

The winners will be the network operators, community leaders, broadband vendors, consultants, educators, hospital administrators, state officials, politicians, etc that can adjust and understand this opportunity and then make it happen for their own citizens and businesses.

This is one of those “when opportunity knocks” moments and no matter where your company is, it needs to focus on this incredible offering. Companies that have a “maybe we will do something here” attitude are not going to make it. You need to drop everything else and dedicate people to making this happen.

To do nothing, is to fall behind. Major telco funding estimates project decreasing cap ex funding for 2009 in the 10 percent to 15 percent range. Making the stimulus package work for you could even the score.

Every issue and every blog published by The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects is geared to getting you the information you need to succeed.

We will interview the government leaders who are shaping these two programs, read through the thousands of pages of federal dictum related to it, understand the related programs, talk to the people, like you, who are developing the winning strategies.

You cannot afford to miss any tips that will put you at a disadvantage. You need to be at the right place at the right time, connecting your program with the funding agents that literally want to get money to good broadband programs such as yours.

The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects will help you create the best possible proposal, hitting the right buttons. What are the watchwords federal funding agents are looking for and how do they connect to your proposal? What elements of your application should you emphasize? Should you apply to NTIA? RUS? Both? Let us help you.

For example, were you were aware that there is $90 million outside of both the NTIA and Office of Rural Services programs included in the digital TV conversion program? This involves funding you may be eligible for that also deals with the digital divide by getting broadband services to vulnerable populations including those who speak English as a second language and are old and infirm. There is such a program, and you need to be aware of it.

Whatever your status in terms of making a proposal, you need to prepare your presentation for the NTIA if interested in the $4.2 billion that agency is making available. As stated, initial presentations are starting today. Your company needs to be in the mix, either as a proposer or as a vendor who can help the project managers make it happen.

There is an old saying in working with the federal government: If you are not involved with helping to write the solicitation, you are probably not going to win it. While that is more the case for much more narrow bids with fewer winners than these broader proposals, the truth is still there. In order to best respond to the solicitation when it does come out, you need to be there as it is being formulated. Let The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects give you a seat at the table.

In order to make the right decisions, you need to be informed. Are you bidding for the NTIA grants? The Rural Services funds? Both? What about the funds specifically designated for broadband education? There are funds specifically to aid library broadband connections. Should your company go after them? What about the DTV-related funds we mentioned earlier?

By going to the Washington meetings, talking to the policymakers, bureaucrats and decision-makers, The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects provides you with much-needed clarity. While there is a mandate from the President on down to push the money out rapidly, the way those funds are being solicited is critical. How important are the Buy American provisions? Are you in compliance with Davis-Bacon fair labor regulations? How important is it for you to provide open networking? Does your project offer communities the ability to provide telemedicine and distance-learning services?

If you have done business with the federal government before, you know the emphasis is different than doing business in the private sector. The federal government is not interested in making money. It is interested in filling its quotas, in making sure its missional goals have been met. Are you factoring in those differences in your proposal?

There is strong language in the Act advocating state participation. It is clear that each state should have at least one broadband project. But what exactly is that relationship? Are independent carriers operating at a disadvantage if they don't connect in with their state's hierarchy, which can be stifling and bureaucratic? Or is there a path to success for them outside of working with the state? Here, again, The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects will dig out the answers and provide them for you.

What are the anomalies in the evolving terms and regulations that could spell opportunity for your company? For example, the Act says that 75 percent of broadband projects for the Office of Rural Utilities must be in rural areas. Does that mean there are broadband opportunities for the other 25 percent to be located in denser areas? What about connecting public FTTH communities in small towns with their surrounding rural communities? Is that a ready-made opportunity? The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects will help you successfully address these issues.

Many Washington policymakers equate broadband with fiber optics. And this undoubtedly is an important opportunity both for the visibility and application of this remarkable technology. But wireless also is expected to play a role. What is the right technology mix to present in your proposal? What amount of broadband should be delivered to rural communities and to vulnerable neighborhoods? These are critical questions. Let us help you get the answers.

Is your company fully familiarized with the differences in the NTIA and Agriculture approaches? The two agencies together with the FCC will hold a meeting March 10 saying what they have in common, but what about the differences? How will your application change in applying for a grant as opposed to a loan guarantee? What about working in a rural area as opposed to an urban or suburban area? Which one of the two programs advocates open technology? Does one advocate higher transmission rates?

When you are bidding a competitive business contract do you fully understand every aspect of the process? Of course. You want to know exactly what you are up against. It is the same thing with the national stimulus broadband program. You want to know you did the best job going in, so there will be no regrets when the process is over. Let us help you accomplish that.

The editorial team for The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects will be anchored by C. David Chaffee, considered by many the best broadband and fiber optics journalist/analyst in the United States and the world.

Chaffee began writing about broadband in 1982 when he directed a team that wrote and produced Fiber Optics News for Phillips Publishing. He has since gone on to write two books about fiber optics, serve as Washington correspondent for both Photonics Spectra and London-based Communications Systems Worldwide magazines, work as Corporate Editor for Ciena Corporation, and start his company, Chaffee Fiber Optics, in 1998. He is principal writer and editor for the internationally acclaimed daily, fibertoday.com, the longest standing daily covering fiber optics in the world, and publishes the popular FTTH Prism, considered the definitive voice in all affairs fiber to the home.

Chaffee has been covering Washington, D.C. since 1979 and is a current and longtime member of the National Press Club. He formerly also worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. He is well familiarized with how the federal infrastructure works. His articles have been published in the Washington Post, Nature Magazine, Science Magazine, Lightwave Magazine and dozens of others. He also writes and publishes an annual analysis on military fiber optics.

Subscribe to The Report on Shovel-Ready Broadband Projects and you will receive 24 issues and 24 blogs over the next year. These issues will be delivered on the fifteenth and first of the month, without fail. Subscribe now and your first issue will come March 15, followed by April 1, April 15, etc.

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Remember: The sole purpose of this report is to help you succeed. Consider us a consultant in Washington, D.C. at a bargain basement price. We will measure our success on how well you do.

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Come along with us on this journey of a lifetime. The funding agents in Washington are on the move. Their task is to spend up to $7 billion to improve the broadband infrastructure of America. Let us help you get your fair share of that funding pie.

Thank you.