1. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Broadband Stimulus Outreach American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 1

2. Stimulus Bill Legislation  General broadband provisions:  $2.5 billion for Rural Utilities Service (RUS)  $4.7 billion for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) 2

3. Rural Utilities Service  $2.5 billion for grants, loans and loan guarantees  Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program  Funding available for areas where at least 75% of service area “shall be a rural area without sufficient access to high-speed broadband…”  Priority given to projects that:  Give end users a choice  Provide service to the highest proportion of unserved rural residents  Are proposed by borrowers or former borrowers under Title II of the Rural Electrification Act  Demonstrate that all project elements will be fully funded  Can commence promptly and be completed within the two-year timeframe 3

4. NTIA  $4.7 billion total  $350 million for broadband mapping  Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)  $4.35 billion  $200 million—expanding public computer center capacity  $250 million—innovative programs to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service  Broadband access for users in unserved and underserved areas  Broadband support for education  Broadband use by public safety agencies  Economic growth and job creation 4

5. NTIA Program  BTOP Program Plan released by NTIA on May 15, 2009  Program measures will include:  Job Creation: the # and type of jobs created directly due to funding  Expanded broadband access: #of areas where service made available or improved, # homes and businesses passed by [reported coverage at census block level, speed and price of service]  Private sector investment: amounts and types of private investment leveraged  High Speed Access to “strategic institutions”: new equipment and capacity including new or forecasted users of new infrastructure  Encourage Broadband Demand: #of new subscribers generated from demand-side projects 5

6. NTIA Program  Schedules & Milestones published by NTIA:  June 2009 - Award Contract for Grants Program Support  April–June 2009 - Preparation for Initial Solicitation for Proposals  June 2009 - Publish Notice of Funds Availability  Sept-Dec 2009 - Initial Proposal Processing and Review  Dec 2009 - Initial Grant Awards Made  Oct-Dec 2009 - Second Solicitation for Proposals  April-June 2010 - Third Solicitation for Proposals  Sept 2010 - All Awards to Be Made 6

7. NTIA Program  All awards by September 30, 2010  Projects completed within two years of an award  Openness and transparency, including regular reporting  State role:  Consultation with NTIA  Identification of unserved and underserved  Beyond that—unclear at this time 7

8. Some Guiding Principles  Concentration on ‘unserved’ areas of Commonwealth  Enhanced broadband to those designated as underserved  Remaining technology-neutral  Encouraging broadband connectivity through multiple providers  Encouraging local and public-private partnerships  Using Commonwealth resources where possible to assist our goals  Supporting where possible, public safety, education, health, energy and commercial-grade broadband  Identifying policy and programmatic changes in state programs that could help accelerate deployment 8

9. Pennsylvania Chapter 30  Chapter 30 enacted in 1993 to achieve early deployment of broadband in Pennsylvania  Authorized several programs that will substantially increase the investment in Commonwealth telecommunications infrastructure, including:  Establishing a deployment timetable for ILECs monitored and enforced by the Pennsylvania PUC;  Creating an outreach and aggregation funding mechanism (BOAF);  Special program with mandated deployment upon achieving agreed- upon threshold of committed customers (BFRR);  Requiring a statewide inventory and mapping of availability of telecommunications services;  Creating broadband networks between, among, and within school entities (“E-Fund”) 9

10. Commonwealth Outreach  How you think the grant program should be administered?  How would broadband availability change your community? Tell us about some immediate benefits or positive impacts?  What speeds do you consider to be a good definition of broadband?  What do you consider to be affordable broadband service?  What barriers do you see to this project? What attempts have you previously made to obtain access, and what challenges or obstacles have you encountered?  What do you think the Commonwealth’s role should be with this project?  What should the definitions of “unserved” and “underserved” areas be?  Do you have “shovel ready” (ready-to-go) projects that you can present? 10

11. Questions or Comments? Please email them to: ra-OA-Stimulus@state.pa.us 11