[RTC List] Local Broadband Stimulus Money

[Larry Goldberg]

RTC members and interested parties:

This morning I attended a very interesting meeting of the Business  
Partners Roundtable at HSU.  This is a group of local businesses, non- 
profit community based organizations and HSU personnel who meet  
quarterly to discuss topics related to local economic development.   
Today we heard a summary report from Connie Stewart who is currently  
working with the Redwood Rural Action organization  (with the blessing  
of HSU President, Rollin Richmond) on the development of a  
comprehensive broadband plan for application for stimulus broadband  
money.   While I don't have all the details, the overall project came  
as a complete surprise to me (and I think will be to many of you).   
Here's what I heard:

Redwood Rural Action is trying to organize all the local governments  
(primarily four counties of the region, the Yurok tribe and several  
school districts) into submitting a "comprehensive" proposal for  
broadband.  What they've decided on is a proposal for addressing the  
"most critical issue" which they've defined as the middle mile/ 
backhaul problem and they want a middle-mile only proposal to do five  
(!!) separate fiber projects (yes, that's what they're planning!)  
which include:
  - Hwy. 299 (Broadband Associates)
-  Hwy. 101 to Crescent City (to satisfy the Yurok Tribe)
  - Hwy. 36 (I don't know who that's for)
  - Mendocino Coast (which may make sense given how little  
connectivity they currently have)
  - Hwy 3 (Trinity Co.)

They will be issuing an RFP (I'm not sure who's funding this, but I  
know they've asked for funding from several counties to help with the  
effort) and they plan to hire a high-power consultant (do you think  
they have anyone in particular in mind?) who has an "inside track" to  
stimulus money, is technically savvy and will select the final  
projects for submission.  By the way - this all has to be done within  
the next 30 days because RUS and NTIA broadband proposals will be  
announced in early June.  Also - a private meeting was held recently  
with county, municipal and tribal representatives with no public input  
and no private sector invited to discuss this issue.

According to Connie, this project will most likely be publicly owned  
(with 80% public money being requested), they are not open to any  
other broadband solutions (fiber is the chosen solution) and she  
claims the findings are completely based on the RCC report (please see http://redwoodcoastconnect.humboldt.edu/?content=docs 
   for the final report and "peer review" which I recommend reading).   
She further claims that this will stimulate competition insofar as  
their goal is 3 providers per community, thus lowering prices (they  
hope).

She only entertained a few questions before she had to leave for  
another meeting so we really couldn't discuss it at length.  I have so  
many concerns, as you can imagine, so I'm a little at a loss (imagine  
that!) but here are just a *few* of my concerns:

1)   What was the decision/selection process for determining the scope  
& design of the RFP?
2)   What are the roles of Redwood Rural Action and Redwood Coast  
Connect in deciding broadband projects for stimulus funding?
3)   Why has the middle mile/backhaul issue become the primary driver  
for stimulus money?  What happened to "last mile" delivery services?
4)   Why is fiber the only technology being considered for middle- 
mile? (and why do we need fiber EVERYWHERE?)
5)   What is the role of local governments (counties, municipalities,  
tribes and community service districts) in this process?  Why are they  
proposing a single application for stimulus money?
6)   Who are the evaluation committee members for the RFP?
7)   Who is the technical expert reviewing proposals?  Will there be a  
technical vetting process for proposals?
8)   What are the criteria for reviewing projects?
9)   Why wasn’t ANY public input considered for this process?
10)  What is the vetting process for projects?  How will they be  
prioritized?  Is there any cost-benefit analysis? (This is public  
money, remember?)
11)  When, if ever, will there be a public airing of the projects?  Is  
there any opportunity for public input?
12)  If funding is limited, how will a project be selected as the top  
priority for the region?
13)  If a project has over 60% public money invested, will it be  
considered a publicly owned project?
14)  What considerations are being made for operations?  Who is going  
to operate and maintain these projects?

I would be interested in your input.  Are any of you as concerned as I  
am about this whole process?  Please let me know how you feel and we  
can organize a response.

Thank you.
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