An important part of the Obama Administration’s $787 billion stimulus package is $7.2 billion for grants and loans designed to expand broadband access in the United States.

The bulk of the funds — $4.7 billion — will be distributed through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the rest through the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program out of the Dept. of Agriculture. The government is making a very clear statement — broadband is so essential that funds will be made available so telecommunications service providers can expand access and reach every citizen in the country.

As you might guess from the name of our blog, we think this is an extremely valuable and important investment in the country’s future. It significantly impacts millions of Americans, service providers and our company as well.

We believe the stimulus bill will help service providers — both fixed and mobile — expand their footprint and speed up the deployment of broadband, especially in the Tier 2 and 3 rural markets.  Wireless carriers welcome the stimulus dollars since it helps them support ongoing investment in so-called 4G networks, which will provide much higher broadband speeds to the smartphones of the future.  And the millions of Americans who gain access through the investment will help keep those networks busy.

For providers, the stimulus bill will create new and significant revenue streams.   In addition to providing access, providers can layer on value-added services, e.g., VoIP, IPTV, etc.

Some would say it’s about time we had a national broadband policy. (Actually we’ll officially have the national plan in 211 days, when the FCC is required to publish it.) The U.S. has fallen behind many industrialized nations in offering broadband to citizens, as measured per capita by population size.  A report published by the International Telecommunications Union showed that the U.S fell from 11th to 17th from 2002 – 2007. That slide represents millions of people shut out from the communication and productivity tools provided by broadband access.

Broadband powers a new wave of multimedia communications, including video and mashups that marry VoIP with Web 2.0 — these are revolutionizing how consumers and enterprises connect, communicate and collaborate.  VoIP technology makes possible features like unifying voice mail and email, “find me, follow me” calling and integration into business applications like Salesforce.com and social networks like Facebook.

What does the bill mean for BroadSoft?  More broadband deployments = greater opportunity for more advanced, multimedia communications over IP. Entirely new business models have emerged thanks to broadband, such as cloud computing and Software as a Service (SaaS). These new models help make advanced communication services available to businesses of all sizes, and residential consumers as well.

BroadbandIgnite will return to this important topic on a regular basis. The expansion of broadband to every American citizen is overdue, and is vital for maintaining the productivity and competitiveness of America in the 21st century.

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