Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) completed awarding the Broadband Stimulus funds last year.

Much has happened in the last 6 months as the awarded parties have begun to wade through the process of starting their “shovel-ready” projects. This was one of the buzzwords during the Broadband Stimulus application period; projects should be “shovel-ready” to be considered for funding. Unfortunately, for many awardees, their shovels are still at the ready.

With all of the requirements from financials, environmental assessments, and reporting, many awardees are still navigating the terms and conditions phase of their award with the Stimulus funding still untapped. There have been, and will continue to be, challenges facing Broadband Stimulus fund recipients. Considerations for fund recipients range from time constraints to manufacturing location, and it will be important for the recipients to be diligent in their vendor selection to ease the heavy burden created by these requirements.

As award recipients have begun to sift through the terms and conditions of their Stimulus funding, many questions have arisen. “Will I have enough time to complete my project?” “Do I have the resources designated to build a quality network within my budget?” With so many questions, and answers sometimes hard to come by, award recipients can leverage their vendors as a force multiplier when it comes to information gathering, design and construction, and product and architecture expertise.

There are a variety of considerations award recipients have to keep in mind as they begin their projects. One big consideration that has come as a surprise to some awardees is the Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Determinations. The U.S. Department of Labor makes these determinations, and adherence to these wage rates is a requirement of Broadband Stimulus funding. It is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, as well as the Department of Commerce, to ensure that all construction contractors abide by these regulations. With these rates occasionally coming in higher than the normal average construction wage rates in particular areas, certain Stimulus award recipients did not plan for this during the application process. As a result, awardees are coming in considerably over budget; this could force them to reject their funding or make different product decisions in order to meet their budget.

Another issue for Stimulus fund recipients to consider is meeting the time guidelines provided by the funding. Stimulus fund awardees are required to have 67 percent of their project complete within 2 years of their award date and have the project fully complete within 3 years of their award date. This timeline is aggressive for experienced awardees who have dealt with government grants or loans, or who have received previous funding through the RUS. Things become even dicier for grantees that are start-up companies or non-profits with limited resources and potentially even more limited experience. There is an “unknown” when it comes to what happens to a network that does not meet this timeline. Will the funding be rescinded at the two-thirds checkpoint, and the remainder of the project cancelled with the recipient indebted to the U.S. Treasury for the spent funds? With longer-than-expected environmental assessments, intricate terms and conditions, and lengthy reporting requirements, some recipients are already behind schedule. For those with limited build seasons, the timeline becomes even more condensed. Time consideration is an extremely important factor in this process.

From design work to logistics management, fund recipients are being inundated with a number of decisions. With summer here, with it comes a fear of scarcity of products and services. Many will be considering warehousing product, allowing someone else to manage timely shipments to the job site. Staying under budget hangs in the balance of supply and demand.

Not only are the recipients responsible for numerous reports, financials and a comprehensive environmental assessment, but they also must be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money and adhere to the “Buy American” directive included in both Notices of Funds Availability (NOFAs). Although, there is an exception to this directive written into both NOFAs, it is still clear that for fiber build-outs, the primary components of the project should be manufactured in the U.S. Recipients can file a waiver citing excessive burden/cost to comply with this directive, but that is yet another piece of paperwork adding to the already burdensome process.

5 Questions to Help
The good news is that the burden can be eased for Stimulus fund awardees when they look for the right partners. In fact, Vendor selection can be one of the first places to reach out for help. Contractors, consultants, logistics management companies and manufacturers all have resources available to ease the stress of these fast-moving projects. Some food for thought for fund recipients as they begin their vendor selection:

Question 1. Have prospective contractors met all Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Act requirements? This will be extremely important as the budget begins to truly shape up with actual costs vs. just estimates. Sometimes this increases contractor costs, higher than originally anticipated, and can change assumptions exponentially.

Question 2. Could a consultant help with final design work? This may be a benefit depending upon the initial application designs and the resources available within the recipient's company to finalize the scope of the project. As the project starts to take off, resources may get thin. A consultant can help to fill these gaps.

Question 3. Does hiring a logistics management team make sense? It may be a benefit as products and services become constrained during peak build season to have a stock managed by a logistics firm. This is something worth considering in order to meet the Stimulus-enforced timeline. A logistics team can work as a force multiplier during project implementation.

Question 4. Are your vendors producing their product in America? With the Buy American directive still a part of both NOFAs, it is important to know the answer to this question during your bid process. If a waiver document needs to be completed, this could take time, further delaying the project.

Question 5. Could a preconnectorized fiber deployment solution be utilized in my project? Saving time and money, a plug-and-play solution could make real "cents". With a faster deployment and an ease of connectorization, a preterminated fiber-to-the-home solution could be the answer to not only meeting the time constraints but also meeting the budget. A vendor or consulting firm can provide the tools to find out if a project fits the parameters of one that would benefit from this type of solution set.

At just about the halfway point of the Broadband Stimulus process and many projects already underway, some have already faced these decisions. One of the most important tools available to Stimulus fund recipients is their peers. Network with others, and leverage the lessons learned by those who have already traveled the path. There are a number of tools available and force-multipliers out there to aid in making these projects come to fruition. Knowing where to find them is more than half the battle.

Kara Swanson is a Market Specialist, Corning Cable Systems. She has more than 3 years of experience with independent telcos, and spent the past 2 years focusing on the Broadband Stimulus. For more information, visit www.corning.com/cablesystems.

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