Verizon the Big Winner?
Here's a follow-up to the note about the potential impact of the stimulus package that may include incentives for getting broadband to unserved or underserved areas. There is some interesting speculation that Verizon could be the big winner in receiving tax incentives, regardless of whether they actually deploy deep fiber into the greenfield or underserved areas. Some view the proposed package as a way to light a fire under the cable MSOs and get them to expedite the deployments of DOCSIS 3.0.

Verizon comments on what the proposed legislation may mean on their own blog.

Who's Going to Manage This, Anyway?
After reading Verizon's policy blog, I posted a question that basically asks who's going to manage the process of getting the operators to work with the state and local authorities to actually deploy these broadband services? I'm wondering if operators will be given sole discretion to determine their rollout plans, or will government or quasi-government organizations be involved in the planning? How will the government measure the progress to assure that tax breaks are actually going to the companies that put installers into the field and get the services to the customers.

The Verizon folks were nice enough to respond with some thoughts. There could be a number of government entities involved in the process, from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at USDA and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce. Verizon also mentioned Connected Nation, which facilitates public-private partnerships to increase access to and use of broadband and related technology.