The Official website for the joint New York City Council and Mayoral Broadband Advisory Committee
to explore the issue of universal broadband availability and access in New York City.
With the deadline for applications for the first round of grants from the $7.2bn set aside for broadband adoption projects in President Obama’s stimulus plan rapidly approaching (Aug14), members of many of NYC communities met to discuss how best to achieve results. Representatives of the City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DOITT) poured cold water on many aspirations stating that most, if not all, the cash would go to rural projects. Despite this many declared it their intention to apply.
Audio & Video below. A listserv has been set up for further conversation. Twitter: #nycbtop
00:00 Gale A. Brewer - NYC City Council 03:38 David Birdsell - Dean of Baruch School of Public Policy 07:40 Joshua Breitbart - People's Production House 10:21 Elvin Rogers - Fair Time for Learning 12:04 Dave Pentecost - LES Girls Club 14:51 Adam Black - Share The Access 16:13 Eran Bello - Runcom Technologies (WiMax) 16:56 Thomas Camber - O.A.T.S. 18:35 Audrey Duncan - Bronxnet 19:28 Darada Davis - Peace Love Cafe 21:13 Dennis Ailane - Harlem Consumer Education Council 22:30 Renee Giordano - Sunset Park BID 24:19 Bruce Lincoln - Center for Technology Innovation & Community Engagement 27:43 Mitchel Albarn - DOITT 34:42 Darcy Gerbarg - Columbia Institute for Tele-Information 38:25 Dave Pentecost - LES Girls Club 40:15 Lou Klepner - Community Fiber Project : 44:42 Dana Spiegel - NYC Wireless 49:13 Kristine Rivera - Perscholas 50:47 Adam Black - Share The Access 52:08 Mario Bodden - SoBro 54:29 Joshua Breitbart - People's Production House 56:06 Maria Pagano - AT&T 58:53 John Weaver - Liberty Imaging 1:03:27 Henry Quiero - HITN 1:05:04 Dave Elcock - Mt. Hope Housing Co. 1:07:30 Mark Belinsky - Digital Democracy: Director 1:10:02 Alamelu Narayanaswamy - Community Programmer, MNN 1:11:04 Dimas.DeJesus - LISTA Latinos Information Science and Technology Association 1:13:01 Karen Gourgey - Baruch College Computer for the Visually Impaired 1:14:20 David Birdsell - Dean of Baruch School of Public Policy 1:17:40 Joshua Breitbart - People's Production House 1:18:04 Dave Pentecost - LES Girls Club 1:21:04 Dennis Ailane - Harlem Consumer Education Council 1:25:19 Michelle Pichardo - Institute of Family Health 1:28:01 Conclusion
On Tuesday, July 28, 2009 from 6-8 PMat DCTV’s Third Floor Conference Room (located at 87 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10013) Council Member Gale A. Brewer invites all members of the New York City technology community to discuss the recently released Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funding that has been made available through the federal stimulus package which passed in February 2009. The purpose of this event is to help galvanize interested applicants around common goals. Please distribute this invitation widely and invite all pertinent stakeholders to attend.
From Council Member Gale A. Brewer ----------------------------------------------------------------
July 24, 2009
Dear Friend,
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009, to stimulate the national economy and invigorate neglected industries that directly affect the nation’s competitive edge. Included in this stimulus package is the $7.2 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, also known as BTOP. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) released rules (also known as notice of funds availability, NOFA) for the BTOP governing process July 1, 2009.
In an effort to involve the entire technology and not-for-profit community, I would like to encourage your participation in a meeting on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 6 PM. At this meeting, we would like to work with a number of organizations to connect with other institutions and collaborate on a general plan for New York City’s BTOP application.
The application for the grants was released on July 9, 2009, and is due by 5 PM on August 14, 2009. After a thorough review, the NTIA will announce the finalists in September 2009 and will dole out the funds in November 2009. The NTIA expects the project to be completed within two to three years of the award date. The first of three funding rounds will provide about $1.6 billion in competitive grants to all fifty states.
Here is the breakdown for NTIA’s $1.6 billion BTOP [NOFA 527-545] grant: * $1.2 billion allocated to provide last- and middle-mile services to unserved and underserved areas; * $50 million for computer centers; * $150 million to drive broadband demand; and * $200 million in discretionary funding to spread among the aforementioned categories, when in need;
Also included in the definitions for unserved and underserved areas. For "last mile" funding purposes in New York City, an underserved area can be designated by meeting one of three criteria: * No more than 50 percent of households have access to facilities- based terrestrial broadband; * No fixed or mobile provider advertises speeds of at least 3 megabits per second (Mbps); * The rate of subscribership is 40 percent or less.
The NTIA’s Notice of Funds Availability for the BTOP program aims at access and implementation of net neutrality. "Without a non- discrimination condition, network operators could give preferential treatment to affiliated services, or charge some application and content providers for ‘fast lanes’ that would put others at a competitive disadvantage," the notice said. Furthermore, applicants can deploy nondiscrimatory network management methods and offer managed services that use private connections, such as telemedicine, public safety communications, and distance learning.
The application process is ranked on a 100-point system. The rubric is outlined in the following way: 1. Project Purpose (30 points) 2. Project Benefits (25 points) 3. Project Viability (25 points) 4. Project Budget and Sustainability (20 points)
For more information on this breakdown, please log on to www.broadbandusa.gov and click on the "Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for Broadband Initiatives Program and Broadband Technology Opportunities Program". Read through lines 1410 through 1593.
To that, we would like to join us for a brief meeting regarding BTOP on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 6 PM. The location will in Manhattan and you will be notified about the location very soon. Please contact Kunal Malhotra, Budget and Legislation Director, at (212) 788-6975 or at kmalhotra@council.nyc.gov if you have any questions or would like attend the NYC BTOP meeting.
These grants are all competitive. We hope that groups will partner so to be successful in bringing projects to the five boroughs.
On Jun 29 2009 there was a public hearing of New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government to discuss open data standards for city agencies, a new bill #991-2009 having been introduced to establish same in an effort to increase government transparency and access to public data. Beyond the 'good government' benefits of the legislation, the bill is intended to unlock City data to enable web developers and entrepreneurs to interact with City government in new and unforeseen ways.
However, on the morning of the hearing Mayor Bloomberg pre-empted the bill by announcing that the City would make available 80 data sets and run a competition 'Big Apps' for the best application. While welcoming the Mayor's initiative, it was apparent that the Committee Chair Gale Brewer, and just about every witness, considered it ultimately insufficient.
Since 2002, Council Member Gale A. Brewer has been leading the effort to close the "digital divide" in New York. Her interest in this important issue led her to introduce legislation to create a Committee that would hear from the average New Yorker about how technology does and could play a role in improving his/her life.
In 2005, Local Law 126 was signed by the Mayor. It created the Broadband Advisory Committee to get public input on this issue as well as advise the Mayor and the City Council on how bring affordable broadband to all New York City.
