Fast Net News, DSL Prime, DOCSIS Report

This is the text of the sections of the Senate and House stim bills. The Senate is from a draft not officially approved circulating on February 8

Provided, That at least 75 percent of the area
16 served by the projects receiving funds from such grants,
17 loans, or loan guarantees is in a rural area without suffi18
cient access to high speed broadband service to facilitate
19 rural economic development, as determined by the Sec20
retary:

NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION
20 ADMINISTRATION
21 BROADBAND TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM
22 For an amount for ‘‘Broadband Technology Opportu23
nities Program’’, $7,000,000,000, to remain available
24 until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the funds
25 provided under this heading, $6,650,000,000 shall be ex38
1 pended pursuant to section 201 of this Act, of which: not
2 less than $200,000,000 shall be available for competitive
3 grants for expanding public computer center capacity, in4
cluding at community colleges and public libraries; not less
5 than $250,000,000 shall be available for competitive
6 grants for innovative programs to encourage sustainable
7 adoption of broadband service; and $10,000,000 shall be
8 transferred to ‘‘Department of Commerce, Office of In9
spector General’’ for the purposes of audits and oversight
10 of funds provided under this heading and such funds shall
11 remain available until expended: Provided further, That 50
12 percent of the funds provided in the previous proviso shall
13 be used to support projects in rural communities, which
14 in part may be transferred to the Department of Agri15
culture for administration through the Rural Utilities
16 Service if deemed necessary and appropriate by the Sec17
retary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of
18 Agriculture, and only if the Committees on Appropriations
19 of the House and the Senate are notified not less than
20 15 days in advance of the transfer of such funds: Provided
21 further, That of the funds provided under this heading,
22 up to $350,000,000 may be expended pursuant to Public
23 Law 110–385 (47 U.S.C. 1301 note) and for the purposes
24 of developing and maintaining a broadband inventory map
25 pursuant to section 201 of this Act: Provided further, That
39
1 of the funds provided under this heading, amounts deemed
2 necessary and appropriate by the Secretary of Commerce,
3 in consultation with the Federal Communications Com4
mission (FCC), may be transferred to the FCC for the
5 purposes of developing a national broadband plan or for
6 carrying out any other FCC responsibilities pursuant to
7 section 201 of this Act, and only if the Committees on
8 Appropriations of

RULE.—For purposes of section 46,
17 the broadband credit for any taxable year is the sum of—
18 ‘‘(1) the current generation broadband credit,
19 plus
20 ‘‘(2) the next generation broadband credit.
21 ‘‘(b) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT;
22 NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND CREDIT.—For purposes
23 of this section—
24 ‘‘(1) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND
25 CREDIT.—The current generation broadband credit
499
1 for any taxable year is equal to 10 percent (20 per2
cent in the case of qualified subscribers which are
3 unserved subscribers) of the qualified broadband ex4
penditures incurred with respect to qualified equip5
ment providing current generation broadband serv6
ices to qualified subscribers and taken into account
7 with respect to such taxable year.
8 ‘‘(2) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND CRED9
IT.—The next generation broadband credit for any
10 taxable year is equal to 20 percent of the qualified
11 broadband expenditures incurred with respect to
12 qualified equipment providing next generation
13 broadband services to qualified subscribers and
14 taken into account with respect to such taxable year.
15 ‘‘(c) WHEN EXPENDITURES TAKEN INTO AC16
COUNT.—For purposes of this section—
17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Qualified broadband ex18
penditures with respect to qualified equipment shall
19 be taken into account with respect to the first tax20
able year in which—
21 ‘‘(A) current generation broadband services
22 are provided through such equipment to quali23
fied subscribers, or
500
1 ‘‘(B) next generation broadband services
2 are provided through such equipment to quali3
fied subscribers.
4 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—
5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Qualified broadband
6 expenditures shall be taken into account under
7 paragraph (1) only with respect to qualified
8 equipment—
9 ‘‘(i) the original use of which com10
mences with the taxpayer, and
11 ‘‘(ii) which is placed in service, after
12 December 31, 2008, and before January 1,
13 2011.
14 ‘‘(B) SALE-LEASEBACKS.—For purposes of
15 subparagraph (A), if property—
16 ‘‘(i) is originally placed in service
17 after December 31, 2008, by any person,
18 and
19 ‘‘(ii) sold and leased back by such per20
son within 3 months after the date such
21 property was originally placed in service,
22 such property shall be treated as originally
23 placed in service not earlier than the date on
24 which such property is used under the leaseback
25 referred to in clause (ii).
501
1 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL ALLOCATION RULES FOR CURRENT
2 GENERATION BROADBAND SERVICES.—For purposes of
3 determining the current generation broadband credit
4 under subsection (a)(1) with respect to qualified equip5
ment through which current generation broadband serv6
ices are provided, if the qualified equipment is capable of
7 serving both qualified subscribers and other subscribers,
8 the qualified broadband expenditures shall be multiplied
9 by a fraction—
10 ‘‘(1) the numerator of which is the sum of the
11 number of potential qualified subscribers within the
12 rural areas and the underserved areas and the
13 unserved areas which the equipment is capable of
14 serving with current generation broadband services,
15 and
16 ‘‘(2) the denominator of which is the total po17
tential subscriber population of the area which the
18 equipment is capable of serving with current genera19
tion broadband services.
20 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section—
21 ‘‘(1) ANTENNA.—The term ‘antenna’ means
22 any device used to transmit or receive signals
23 through the electromagnetic spectrum, including sat24
ellite equipment.
502
1 ‘‘(2) CABLE OPERATOR.—The term ‘cable oper2
ator’ has the meaning given such term by section
3 602(5) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47
4 U.S.C. 522(5)).
5 ‘‘(3) COMMERCIAL MOBILE SERVICE CAR6
RIER.—The term ‘commercial mobile service carrier’
7 means any person authorized to provide commercial
8 mobile radio service as defined in section 20.3 of
9 title 47, Code of Federal Regulations.
10 ‘‘(4) CURRENT GENERATION BROADBAND SERV11
ICE.—The term ‘current generation broadband serv12
ice’ means the transmission of signals at a rate of
13 at least 5,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber
14 and at least 1,000,000 bits per second from the sub15
scriber (at least 3,000,000 bits per second to the
16 subscriber and at least 768,000 bits per second from
17 the subscriber in the case of service through radio
18 transmission of energy).
19 ‘‘(5) MULTIPLEXING OR DEMULTIPLEXING.—
20 The term ‘multiplexing’ means the transmission of 2
21 or more signals over a single channel, and the term
22 ‘demultiplexing’ means the separation of 2 or more
23 signals previously combined by compatible multi24
plexing equipment.
503
1 ‘‘(6) NEXT GENERATION BROADBAND SERV2
ICE.—The term ‘next generation broadband service’
3 means the transmission of signals at a rate of at
4 least 100,000,000 bits per second to the subscriber
5 (or its equivalent when the data rate is measured be6
fore being compressed for transmission) and at least
7 20,000,000 bits per second from the subscriber (or
8 its equivalent as so measured).
9 ‘‘(7) NONRESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER.—The
10 term ‘nonresidential subscriber’ means any person
11 who purchases broadband services which are deliv12
ered to the permanent place of business of such per13
son.
14 ‘‘(8) OPEN VIDEO SYSTEM OPERATOR.—The
15 term ‘open video system operator’ means any person
16 authorized to provide service under section 653 of
17 the Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 573).
18 ‘‘(9) OTHER WIRELESS CARRIER.—The term
19 ‘other wireless carrier’ means any person (other than
20 a telecommunications carrier, commercial mobile
21 service carrier, cable operator, open video system op22
erator, or satellite carrier) providing current genera23
tion broadband services or next generation
24 broadband service to subscribers through the radio
25 transmission of energy.
504
1 ‘‘(10) PACKET SWITCHING.—The term ‘packet
2 switching’ means controlling or routing the path of
3 a digitized transmission signal which is assembled
4 into packets or cells.
5 ‘‘(11) PROVIDER.—The term ‘provider’ means,
6 with respect to any qualified equipment any—
7 ‘‘(A) cable operator,
8 ‘‘(B) commercial mobile service carrier,
9 ‘‘(C) open video system operator,
10 ‘‘(D) satellite carrier,
11 ‘‘(E) telecommunications carrier, or
12 ‘‘(F) other wireless carrier,
13 providing current generation broadband services or
14 next generation broadband services to subscribers
15 through such qualified equipment.
16 ‘‘(12) PROVISION OF SERVICES.—A provider
17 shall be treated as providing services to 1 or more
18 subscribers if—
19 ‘‘(A) such a subscriber has been passed by
20 the provider’s equipment and can be connected
21 to such equipment for a standard connection
22 fee,
23 ‘‘(B) the provider is physically able to de24
liver current generation broadband services or
25 next generation broadband services, as applica505
1 ble, to such a subscriber without making more
2 than an insignificant investment with respect to
3 such subscriber,
4 ‘‘(C) the provider has made reasonable ef5
forts to make such subscribers aware of the
6 availability of such services,
7 ‘‘(D) such services have been purchased by
8 1 or more such subscribers, and
9 ‘‘(E) such services are made available to
10 such subscribers at average prices comparable
11 to those at which the provider makes available
12 similar services in any areas in which the pro13
vider makes available such services.
14 ‘‘(13) QUALIFIED EQUIPMENT.—
15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified
16 equipment’ means property with respect to
17 which depreciation (or amortization in lieu of
18 depreciation) is allowable and which provides
19 current generation broadband services or next
20 generation broadband services—
21 ‘‘(i) at least a majority of the time
22 during periods of maximum demand to
23 each subscriber who is utilizing such serv24
ices, and
506
1 ‘‘(ii) in a manner substantially the
2 same as such services are provided by the
3 provider to subscribers through equipment
4 with respect to which no credit is allowed
5 under subsection (a)(1).
6 ‘‘(B) ONLY CERTAIN INVESTMENT TAKEN
7 INTO ACCOUNT.—Except as provided in sub8
paragraph (C) or (D), equipment shall be taken
9 into account under subparagraph (A) only to
10 the extent it—
11 ‘‘(i) extends from the last point of
12 switching to the outside of the unit, build13
ing, dwelling, or office owned or leased by
14 a subscriber in the case of a telecommuni15
cations carrier or broadband-over-powerline
16 operator,
17 ‘‘(ii) extends from the customer side
18 of the mobile telephone switching office to
19 a transmission/receive antenna (including
20 such antenna) owned or leased by a sub21
scriber in the case of a commercial mobile
22 service carrier,
23 ‘‘(iii) extends from the customer side
24 of the headend to the outside of the unit,
25 building, dwelling, or office owned or
507
1 leased by a subscriber in the case of a
2 cable operator or open video system oper3
ator, or
4 ‘‘(iv) extends from a transmission/re5
ceive antenna (including such antenna)
6 which transmits and receives signals to or
7 from multiple subscribers, to a trans8
mission/receive antenna (including such
9 antenna) on the outside of the unit, build10
ing, dwelling, or office owned or leased by
11 a subscriber in the case of a satellite car12
rier or other wireless carrier, unless such
13 other wireless carrier is also a tele14
communications carrier.
15 ‘‘(C) PACKET SWITCHING EQUIPMENT.—
16 Packet switching equipment, regardless of loca17
tion, shall be taken into account under subpara18
graph (A) only if it is deployed in connection
19 with equipment described in subparagraph (B)
20 and is uniquely designed to perform the func21
tion of packet switching for current generation
22 broadband services or next generation
23 broadband services, but only if such packet
24 switching is the last in a series of such func25
tions performed in the transmission of a signal
508
1 to a subscriber or the first in a series of such
2 functions performed in the transmission of a
3 signal from a subscriber.
4 ‘‘(D) MULTIPLEXING AND
5 DEMULTIPLEXING EQUIPMENT.—Multiplexing
6 and demultiplexing equipment shall be taken
7 into account under subparagraph (A) only to
8 the extent it is deployed in connection with
9 equipment described in subparagraph (B) and
10 is uniquely designed to perform the function of
11 multiplexing and demultiplexing packets or cells
12 of data and making associated application
13 adaptions, but only if such multiplexing or
14 demultiplexing equipment is located between
15 packet switching equipment described in sub16
paragraph (C) and the subscriber’s premises.
17 ‘‘(14) QUALIFIED BROADBAND EXPENDI18
TURE.—
19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified
20 broadband expenditure’ means any amount—
21 ‘‘(i) chargeable to capital account with
22 respect to the purchase and installation of
23 qualified equipment (including any up24
grades thereto) for which depreciation is
25 allowable under section 168, and
509
1 ‘‘(ii) incurred after December 31,
2 2008, and before January 1, 2011.
3 ‘‘(B) CERTAIN SATELLITE EXPENDITURES
4 EXCLUDED.—Such term shall not include any
5 expenditure with respect to the launching of
6 any satellite equipment.
7 ‘‘(C) LEASED EQUIPMENT.—Such term
8 shall include so much of the purchase price paid
9 by the lessor of equipment subject to a lease de10
scribed in subsection (c)(2)(B) as is attrib11
utable to expenditures incurred by the lessee
12 which would otherwise be described in subpara13
graph (A).
14 ‘‘(15) QUALIFIED SUBSCRIBER.—The term
15 ‘qualified subscriber’ means—
16 ‘‘(A) with respect to the provision of cur17
rent generation broadband services—
18 ‘‘(i) any nonresidential subscriber
19 maintaining a permanent place of business
20 in a rural area, an underserved area, or an
21 unserved area, or
22 ‘‘(ii) any residential subscriber resid23
ing in a dwelling located in a rural area,
24 an underserved area, or an unserved area
25 which is not a saturated market, and
510
1 ‘‘(B) with respect to the provision of next
2 generation broadband services—
3 ‘‘(i) any nonresidential subscriber
4 maintaining a permanent place of business
5 in a rural area, an underserved area, or an
6 unserved area , or
7 ‘‘(ii) any residential subscriber.
8 ‘‘(16) RESIDENTIAL SUBSCRIBER.—The term
9 ‘residential subscriber’ means any individual who
10 purchases broadband services which are delivered to
11 such individual’s dwelling.
12 ‘‘(17) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’
13 means any census tract which—
14 ‘‘(A) is not within 10 miles of any incor15
porated or census designated place containing
16 more than 25,000 people, and
17 ‘‘(B) is not within a county or county
18 equivalent which has an overall population den19
sity of more than 500 people per square mile of
20 land.
21 ‘‘(18) RURAL SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘rural
22 subscriber’ means any residential subscriber residing
23 in a dwelling located in a rural area or nonresiden24
tial subscriber maintaining a permanent place of
25 business located in a rural area.
511
1 ‘‘(19) SATELLITE CARRIER.—The term ‘sat2
ellite carrier’ means any person using the facilities
3 of a satellite or satellite service licensed by the Fed4
eral Communications Commission and operating in
5 the Fixed-Satellite Service under part 25 of title 47
6 of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Direct
7 Broadcast Satellite Service under part 100 of title
8 47 of such Code to establish and operate a channel
9 of communications for distribution of signals, and
10 owning or leasing a capacity or service on a satellite
11 in order to provide such point-to-multipoint distribu12
tion.
13 ‘‘(20) SATURATED MARKET.—The term ‘satu14
rated market’ means any census tract in which, as
15 of the date of the enactment of this section—
16 ‘‘(A) current generation broadband services
17 have been provided by a single provider to 85
18 percent or more of the total number of potential
19 residential subscribers residing in dwellings lo20
cated within such census tract, and
21 ‘‘(B) such services can be utilized—
22 ‘‘(i) at least a majority of the time
23 during periods of maximum demand by
24 each such subscriber who is utilizing such
25 services, and
512
1 ‘‘(ii) in a manner substantially the
2 same as such services are provided by the
3 provider to subscribers through equipment
4 with respect to which no credit is allowed
5 under subsection (a)(1).
6 ‘‘(21) SUBSCRIBER.—The term ‘subscriber’
7 means any person who purchases current generation
8 broadband services or next generation broadband
9 services.
10 ‘‘(22) TELECOMMUNICATIONS CARRIER.—The
11 term ‘telecommunications carrier’ has the meaning
12 given such term by section 3(44) of the Communica13
tions Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 153(44)), but—
14 ‘‘(A) includes all members of an affiliated
15 group of which a telecommunications carrier is
16 a member, and
17 ‘‘(B) does not include any commercial mo18
bile service carrier.
19 ‘‘(23) TOTAL POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBER POPU20
LATION.—The term ‘total potential subscriber popu21
lation’ means, with respect to any area and based on
22 the most recent census data, the total number of po23
tential residential subscribers residing in dwellings
24 located in such area and potential nonresidential
513
1 subscribers maintaining permanent places of busi2
ness located in such area.
3 ‘‘(24) UNDERSERVED AREA.—The term ‘under4
served area’ means any census tract which is located
5 in—
6 ‘‘(A) an empowerment zone or enterprise
7 community designated under section 1391,
8 ‘‘(B) the District of Columbia Enterprise
9 Zone established under section 1400,
10 ‘‘(C) a renewal community designated
11 under section 1400E, or
12 ‘‘(D) a low-income community designated
13 under section 45D.
14 ‘‘(25) UNDERSERVED SUBSCRIBER.—The term
15 ‘underserved subscriber’ means any residential sub16
scriber residing in a dwelling located in an under17
served area or nonresidential subscriber maintaining
18 a permanent place of business located in an under19
served area.
20 ‘‘(26) UNSERVED AREA.—The term ‘unserved
21 area’ means any census tract in which no current
22 generation broadband services are provided, as cer23
tified by the State in which such tract is located not
24 later than September 30, 2009.
514
1 ‘‘(27) UNSERVED SUBSCRIBER.—The term
2 ‘unserved subscriber’ means any residential sub3
scriber residing in a dwelling located in an unserved
4 area or nonresidential subscriber maintaining a per5
manent place of business located in an unserved
6 area.’’.
7 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF INVESTMENT CREDIT.—
8 Section 46 (relating to the amount of investment credit),
9 as amended by this Act, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’
10 at the end of paragraph (4), by striking the period at the
11 end of paragraph (5) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding
12 at the end the following:
13 ‘‘(6) the broadband Internet access credit.’’
14 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR MUTUAL OR COOPERATIVE
15 TELEPHONE COMPANIES.—Section 501(c)(12)(B) (relat16
ing to list of exempt organizations) is amended by striking
17 ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii), by striking the period at
18 the end of clause (iv) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by adding
19 at the end the following new clause:
20 ‘‘(v) from the sale of property subject
21 to a lease described in section
22 48D(c)(2)(B), but only to the extent such
23 income does not in any year exceed an
24 amount equal to the credit for qualified
25 broadband expenditures which would be
515
1 determined under section 48D for such
2 year if the mutual or cooperative telephone
3 company was not exempt from taxation
4 and was treated as the owner of the prop5
erty subject to such lease.’’.
6 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
7 (1) Section 49(a)(1)(C), as amended by this
8 Act, is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of
9 clause (iv), by striking the period at the end of
10 clause (v) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding after
11 clause (v) the following new clause:
12 ‘‘(vi) the portion of the basis of any
13 qualified equipment attributable to quali14
fied broadband expenditures under section
15 48D.’’.
16 (2) The table of sections for subpart E of part
17 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1, as amended by this
18 Act, is amended by inserting after the item relating
19 to section 48C the following:
‘‘Sec. 48D. Broadband internet access credit’’.
20 (e) DESIGNATION OF CENSUS TRACTS.—
21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas22
ury shall, not later than 90 days after the date of
23 the enactment of this Act, designate and publish
24 those census tracts meeting the criteria described in
25 paragraphs (17), (23), (24), and (26) of section
516
1 48D(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as
2 added by this section). In making such designations,
3 the Secretary of the Treasury shall consult with
4 such other departments and agencies as the Sec5
retary determines appropriate.
6 (2) SATURATED MARKET.—
7 (A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of desig8
nating and publishing those census tracts meet9
ing the criteria described in subsection (e)(20)
10 of such section 48D—
11 (i) the Secretary of the Treasury shall
12 prescribe not later than 30 days after the
13 date of the enactment of this Act the form
14 upon which any provider which takes the
15 position that it meets such criteria with re16
spect to any census tract shall submit a
17 list of such census tracts (and any other
18 information required by the Secretary) not
19 later than 60 days after the date of the
20 publication of such form, and
21 (ii) the Secretary of the Treasury
22 shall publish an aggregate list of such cen23
sus tracts submitted and the applicable
24 providers not later than 30 days after the
517
1 last date such submissions are allowed
2 under clause (i).
3 (B) NO SUBSEQUENT LISTS REQUIRED.—
4 The Secretary of the Treasury shall not be re5
quired to publish any list of census tracts meet6
ing such criteria subsequent to the list de7
scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii).
8 (C) AUTHORITY TO DISREGARD FALSE
9 SUBMISSIONS.—In addition to imposing any
10 other applicable penalties, the Secretary of the
11 Treasury shall have the discretion to disregard
12 any form described in subparagraph (A)(i) on
13 which a provider knowingly submitted false in14
formation.
15 (f) OTHER REGULATORY MATTERS.—
16 (1) PROHIBITION.—No Federal or State agency
17 or instrumentality shall adopt regulations or rate18
making procedures that would have the effect of
19 eliminating or reducing any credit or portion thereof
20 allowed under section 48D of the Internal Revenue
21 Code of 1986 (as added by this section) or otherwise
22 subverting the purpose of this section.
23 (2) TREASURY REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—It is
24 the intent of Congress in providing the broadband
25 Internet access credit under section 48D of the In518
1 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this sec2
tion) to provide incentives for the purchase, installa3
tion, and connection of equipment and facilities of4
fering expanded broadband access to the Internet for
5 users in certain low income and rural areas of the
6 United States, as well as to residential users nation7
wide, in a manner that maintains competitive neu8
trality among the various classes of providers of
9 broadband services. Accordingly, the Secretary of
10 the Treasury shall prescribe such regulations as may
11 be necessary or appropriate to carry out the pur12
poses of section 48D of such Code, including—
13 (A) regulations to determine how and when
14 a taxpayer that incurs qualified broadband ex15
penditures satisfies the requirements of section
16 48D of such Code to provide broadband serv17
ices, and
18 (B) regulations describing the information,
19 records, and data taxpayers are required to pro20
vide the Secretary to substantiate compliance
21 with the requirements of section 48D of such
22 Code.
23 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
24 this section shall apply to expenditures incurred after De25
cember 31, 2008.

http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/RecoveryBill01-15-09.pdf
My editor's notes at end may clarify some of the issues buried in the legalese. Dave Burstein

WIRELESS AND BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT GRANT PROGRAMS (INCLUDING TRANSFER OF FUNDS)
For necessary expenses related to the Wireless and Broadband Deployment Grant Programs established by section 3102 of this Act, $2,825,000,000, of which $1,000,000,000 shall be for Wireless Deployment Grants and $1,825,000,000 shall be for Broadband Deployment Grants::

Doubling available spectrum is practical and top of agenda for Obama's tech people, who want more competition.  They also want to use the stimulus money to build wireless towers for the 8% of U.S. homes not covered, a smart move since many are needed for the public safety network anyway. Done right, that will allow the President to declare 98-99% of the U.S. can connect at megabit speeds in about two years. That's very attractive to the politicians.

Changes considered "unthinkable" by most of D.C. actually will be accepted as obvious common sense soon. The spectrum unused by government agencies is enough to add two more carriers.  Also watch what can be done with software defined radio/spectrum sharing. Hong Kong and ZTE are close to a mass deployment.

"$5-8B in broadband stimulus money can create jobs building networks if spent wisely, and I strongly support it." I wrote early in January, when "everyone" was talking about a “broadband stimulus” in the tens of billions, My research had convinced me the carriers couldn't ramp fiber builds enough in less than 2 or 3 years to make a big difference in jobs. The first priority of the stimulus was jobs in 6-12 months. In the last 24 hours, I've received news of 800 layoffs at Time Warner, 11,000 at Intel, and 5,000 Ericsson. That's a good reason to emphasize jobs this year, which was widely report as the first directive.

I came remarkably close to the current proposal, but that wasn't because I had inside information. It was easy to guess that unserved rural areas would be put first. When I looked at specifics, it became clear that wireless could create more jobs quickly, and reach almost everyone with decent if relatively slow service. When I learned the time frame was one year, not three to ten, I knew the big fiber builds were irrelevant. It took Verizon four years to ramp to 3M homes/year. Starting with Verizon's figure of $700/home passed, you'd need to fibering 10's of millions of homes. That would be wonderful - and may be the right long term strategy - but it won't make many jobs in 2009.

Starting with that, the result was logical. Mostly rural, wireless first because it's faster to deploy almost everywhere. Only a limited amount for upgrades to fiber elsewhere. I came up with a figure based on company data and expert estimates of how much they could increase their build. None of the D.C. pundits (except Derek Turner) had bothered to ask the carriers how much they could build, so wound up recommending four or five times as much as the carriers could sensibly spend. Some of the numbers floating around D.C. would give the Bells about $3B even if they didn't add a single home or job to their current schedule.

I had recommended giving the big telcos a subsidy (perhaps 25%) on just about everything they would build beyond their current capex plans (FIOS 3M, U-Verse 6-7M) but that didn't get in. Most of that was diverted to rural areas. My guess is that's more generous than can be sensibly spent this year, but I'm not an expert on rural wireline.

$5-8B in broadband stimulus money can create jobs building networks if spent wisely, and I strongly support it. I strongly oppose ripping off the public treasury for the $20-30B the lobbyists want.

• Ubiquitious 3G/4G wireless to the 6-10M homes not covered by towers. Towers and backhaul in un-served areas are probably incremental and almost all U.S. job creating. This will allow the President to say in 2 years that 98-99% of U.S. homes can receive megabit service.

• Enough subsidy to encourage the telcos and cablecos to build everything practical. 60% increases in FIOS and U-Verse, DOCSIS 3.0 to 80-90% of the country.

• Unserved rural areas, any practical fiber or cable build significantly faster than wireless. Few projects are ready to go, unfortunately.

• Perhaps direct subsidies to poor families to get connected. This is a good thing and currently part of the program, but realistically will create few jobs. Adding more people to existing networks requires little labor and mostly imported parts. If public money subsidizes 5 M connections, I hope we don't pay retail. The direct cost of broadband in the U.S. is $5-10/month, meaning service at $20-50 is very profitable. Jules Genachowski, the new FCC chief, is a dealmaker. I hope he gets the price down to $13 for the low end and $20 for the faster service. The carriers still will get a great earnings boost.

• Perhaps community technology and training, which would almost all go to jobs.

"AT&T Network Upgrades Degrade Service for 2G Phones" Timothy Butler reports at http://www.ofb.biz/safari/article/512.html. I haven't been able to confirm that over the weekend, but his details seem right. "In an act affecting owners of 2G cell phones on AT&T Mobility’s network, including the highly visible, and originally highly expensive first generation iPhone, Open for Business has learned that AT&T has been quietly sacrificing 2G signal strength in an effort to speed up the build out of its next generation 3G network." They seem to be allocating all their 800 MHz spectrum for their troubled 3G service. In particular, some people with 2G iPhones are discovering they no longer can use the (expensive) phone at their homes while AT&T is insisting they maintain their contracts.At least for those customers, the network is broken.

$20B in broadband stimulus is being allocated in the next week, and I believe some of the decisionmakers have been fed misleading information. The public comments of both consumer and corporate advocates are loaded with claims that contradict what I've reported from the network designers.  These questions I believe can help find the key issues and consider whether you have the facts you need. The answers are my opinion and research,  but I urge you to check with technical experts you trust as well. Always happy to provide data and sources (including those who disagree) for a journalist or policy person.

Should stimulus money be primarily used for job creation or is it appropriate to use a major share to improve the companies' balance sheets and dividends? Does this create jobs in six months or even two years? "How much will each company build without subsidy? How much with a subsidy of perhaps 25% or generous loans? What's the maximum possible given the time it takes to ramp up new projects? How much of the subsidy will go to investments already in the pipeline?  Do the details in the build undercut the main goals of creating jobs and improving U.S. networks? Getting good answes to those questions is one way to tell whether the bill is on target and how much waste.