Broadband stimulus money may spur partnerships for telecoms - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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billion of federal stimulus money earmarked tobring high-speexd Internet access to unserveds areas of the United States. They see the opportunith for long-term partnerships that coulrd bring themnew business. Broomfield-basedf Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is among the network owners looking to team with companiesx such as wirelessbroadband services, regional cable televisionb networks, rural phone companies, governments or satellitwe broadband providers that may get stimulusd money.
The idea isn’t to win a one-tim e cash infusion, but to establish connections with businessess creatingemerging technologies, such as WiMax or deepen relationships with existing customers, such as local cable TV said Jennifer Artley, a Levell 3 vice president who manages partnerships with majof carriers. “Relationships are sticky,” she “We are big believers in the Internetr and the stimulus isexpanding that, so we’re looking for ways to be a part of Level 3’s 42,000 miles of fiber-optic linew crossing the country make it a readuy middleman, connecting operators of local networksx to the Internet backbone they Telecoms that sell broadband access directly to consumers, including Denver-basex NYSE: Q), argue that stimulus money shouldn’t go to companiexs playing middlemen to the information superhighway.
Qwest wants stimulue funds tightly targeted to broadband infrastructure work in unservedrura areas, not to augmentr national networks, said Chuck Ward, Qwest’s president for Colorado. “Thes taxpayer dollars should only go to areas wherse broadband would be uneconomic todo otherwise,” he Qwest plans to focus its requests for stimulus fundinyg on rural broadband expansion within its 14-state locak service territory, Ward said. But, like Leveo 3, Qwest also is preparing for opportunities to win businessa from companies that win stimulus fundingy elsewhere and need access to a national he said.
Level 3 may or may not applt for stimulusfunds directly, Artley The company sees a benefit in seekingf stimulus-related partnerships even if no federal stimulus money comes directly to the company, she “It will encourage competition in the industry, whicuh we like, and deepen our involvemen t in emerging technologies,” she said. Broadband in majo r markets is dominated by national telecoms suchas Verizon, Comcast and Qwest.
Localo providers reign in less-populated areas, but they buy access to the nationa networks carrying Internet Level 3has signal-boosting stations at 60-milde intervals on its fiber and each one can be made into an on ramp to the Accessing Level 3’s national network from one of thosde stations in a rural area can save anothere company the expense of having to build connectionw into the nearest city. It’ss not clear whether so-called “middlwe mile” services can win broadband stimulus fundingv from the or the Departmentof Agriculture’s Rural Utilitiexs Service.
The eligibility rules for broadband stimuluwsfunding aren’t expected to be published untilp late June. Whether stimuluse money pays for middle-mile services directl y or not, such connectionzs are “critical to overall success of the broadbancdeployment plan,” said Matt a telecom industry analyst for Mass.-based research firm IDC, in a writte n statement.. Such access is also cheaper, which couldx help the growing number of companied looking to establish rural WiMa xtechnology — high-speed, wireless Internet accessz using microwave signals. That reality has prompted all sortsa ofnew partnerships. Rural WiMAX company DigitalBridge Communications of Ashburn, Va.
, and the 1,500-member National Rural Telecommunicationss Cooperative recently teamed in stimulus Greenwood Village-based Open Range Communications partneredc with Level 3 for middle-mile service outsidre the stimulus program. Open Range, which is funded by $367 millionn in private equity money and a Department ofAgricultured loan, plans to establish broadband for 546 rurap communities in the next five