GAO: We're Not Properly Tracking Broadband Stimulus Funding When it comes to broadband policy, both parties of US government have made a habit of consistent failure. Whether it's ten years of blindly embracing deregulation as the path to a magical telecom nirvana that never arrives (Powell, Martin) or paying endless lip service to consumer values but being too weak-kneed to risk upsetting campaign contributors (Genachowski, Wheeler), these failures to address competition issues have had the same result: high prices, abysmal customer service, and anti-consumer policies. One of the few things that did seem to be helping was using broadband stimulus funding was the Dept. of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Recovery Act-funded Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), which funded a variety of last and middle mile projects around the country, delivering infrastructure improvements in areas many private companies deemed not profitable enough to service. While some good has certainly come of the program, a new study by the GAO (pdf) states that problems with the law have resulted in a failure to properly audit spending. The Recovery Act required that RUS issue a quarterly report card as long as money was going out -- but all the funds were dispersed by 2010: quote: RUS has reported limited information on BIP’s impact since awarding funds to projects, and BIP results are not tracked in the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual performance reporting. Consequently, RUS has not shown how much the program’s approximately $3 billion in project funding—an unprecedented level of federal investment in broadband—has affected broadband availability. Without knowing which programs worked and which ones didn't, the GAO notes, future broadband expansion efforts may not be well-acquainted with reality. Fortunately, USDA officials insist they'll implement the GAO's recommendations moving forward. Given the problems the country has had with Without knowing which programs worked and which ones didn't, the GAO notes, future broadband expansion efforts may not be well-acquainted with reality. Fortunately, USDA officials insist they'll implement the GAO's recommendations moving forward. Given the problems the country has had with correctly tracking the billions in subsidies doled out to carriers over the years via the Universal Service Fund, it's not particularly surprising that fund and project tracking hasn't been top notch. According to the GAO's estimates, 14 percent (42 of 297) of BIP infrastructure projects were terminated for a variety of reasons. Of the 255 projects remaining, 87 percent were completed (39 projects) or partially operational (184 projects) ahead of the 2015 deadline. Many of these have been immensely helpful, while many others (like West Virginia ) stand out as a prime example of why corruption may need addressing before broadband policy is allowed to emerge from the dark ages.







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