Secretary of Commerce: Gary Locke
March 10, 2010
“Without this grant the private sector would have found it prohibitive to serve rural areas.”
The project plans to directly connect “ community anchor institutions” to broadband service – including public safety facilities, K-12 schools, community colleges, government buildings, healthcare providers, and libraries – which will support uses such as distance learning, telemedicine, and improved public safety communications. In addition, local Internet service providers will be able to utilize the new infrastructure to deploy new or improved high-speed Internet service to consumers and businesses.
“High-speed Internet access is increasingly important for communities to thrive in the 21st century economy,” said Deputy NTIA Administrator Anna M. Gomez. “This Recovery Act investment will create jobs, support advances in education and healthcare, and help lay the groundwork for sustainable economic growth.”
“Technology skills and Internet access are increasingly necessary to finding a job, but many people don’t have the resources to go online,” said Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling. “This investment will expand computer and broadband access rural communities most in need, helping to make them full participants in today’s digital economy and creating new opportunities for success–both on and offline.”
The awards are designed to help underserved – and often hard-hit – communities overcome the distance and technology barrier by expanding connectivity between educational institutions, enabling remote medical consultations and attracting new businesses – as well as the jobs that come with them. They are part of an over $100 billion investment in science, technology and innovation the Administration is making through the Recovery Act to lay a new foundation for economic growth.
In total, tens of millions of Americans and over 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities and 2,400 schools in all fifty states stand to benefit from the awards. The $795 million in grants and loans through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have been matched by over $200 million in outside investment, for a total public-private investment of more than $1 billion in bringing broadband service to these communities, most of which currently have little or no access, to help them better compete and do business in the global marketplace.
“Broadband is the new dial tone of the 21st-century“Internet access is as important to our communications infrastructure today as reliable telephone service was a century ago. Creating an advanced network will promote economic development, expand educational opportunities and improve the availability and efficiency of government services.”
"Expanding high-speed Internet access is critical to improving America’s economic competitiveness," said Secretary Locke. "Unless we use the 21st-century tools at our disposal, America will never be as connected as it could be. And that connection is crucial for our economic future."
The National Economic Council today released a report, “Recovery Act Investment in Broadband: Leveraging Federal Dollars to Create Jobs and Connect America,” which found that Recovery Act investments in broadband will create tens of thousands of jobs in the near term and expand opportunities and economic development in communities that would otherwise be left behind in the new knowledge-based economy.
Improving Public Safety Communications
One of the key benefits of expanding broadband services in America is improved public safety communications. Fire, police, and other safety officials must be able to communicate seamlessly and reliably with one another to best prevent and respond to emergencies. New broadband applications can transform emergency response, too. For example, broadband can enable first responders to view the layout of a burning building before entering it or transmit critical video images from an accident scene.
Community anchor institutions are the backbone of cities all across the country, by providing public safety services, healthcare, and education.
Who is NOA NET?
NoaNet is a non-profit wholesale telecommunications corporation headquartered in Tacoma, Washington.
About NoaNet NoaNet is a non-profit mutual corporation providing wholesale telecommunications transport and is headquartered in Tacoma, Washington. It operates a reliable public open-access broadband communication network totaling over 1,500 fiber miles that provides rural areas access to broadband services. One of its purposes is to serve communities by bridging the digital divide to enhance economic opportunities for rural citizens. NoaNet.s members are twelve public utility districts and a joint operating agency that have served wholesale customers in Washington State since 2000.
Late in 2000, a group of Washington public utility districts formed Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet www.noanet.net) to utilize some of the spare BPA fibers available for public benefit. NoaNet, a nonprofit public corporation that has licensed fiber optic cables from the Bonneville Power Administration, will license fibers from other sources and make the network available to utilities and communities in the Pacific Northwest. NoaNet is not a traditional telecommunications company. This new network is being designed and built with the future of the converging telecommunications industry in mind and it focuses on deploying this network to rural areas.
What will the funding provide?
NoaNet will build and coordinate the construction of fiber optic infrastructure in rural areas of Washington State in the next three years. The broadband access will help enable the same educational and employment opportunities in rural areas that we have in our metropolitan areas. Bridging the digital divide paves the way to creating sustainable economic growth in Washington State,. said Greg Marney, Chief Executive Officer of NoaNet.
The project includes construction of miles of fiber optic cable and electronics to provide high capacity broadband access. A minimum of a gigabit per second of broadband will be available to retail service providers to create new markets for business, rural citizens and improve Internet and broadband capabilities into libraries, medical and education centers, government and public safety agencies.
"Access to information is essential to build healthy, connected, and economically viable communities," Governor Chris Gregoire said. "By building out broadband infrastructure to remote parts of our state we connect people with better healthcare, new education options, research capabilities, and economic opportunities. The people of our state are well served by this funding and it will literally build a foundation for the future."
The grants lead the way to bridge the technological divide, boost economic growth, create jobs and improve education and health care across the nation.
For more info:
Nena Walton
Public Relations for NoaNet
866-662-6380 / presscenter@noanet.net
for more information go to:
www.broadbandusa.gov
Clean, green, competitive: Forbes ranks Washington in top states for business and for environment!
Washington is in Forbes' Top 5 states for business - According to Forbes, we are the only state to finish in the top 5 in three main categories (labor, regulatory environment and growth). And, says Forbes, "Washington's numbers are up across the board when you look both backward and at projections into the future."
Washington is in Forbes' Top 5 states for business - According to Forbes, we are the only state to finish in the top 5 in three main categories (labor, regulatory environment and growth). And, says Forbes, "Washington's numbers are up across the board when you look both backward and at projections into the future."
- the 5th best state to do business-
- the 3rd best for green enterprises
- the 11th in business friendliness
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