DRAFT Broadband Initiatives Program Rural Utilities Service U.S. Department of Agriculture 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop 1599 Washington, DC 20250

Broadband Technology Opportunities Program National Telecommunications and Information Administration U.S. Department of Commerce, HCB Room 4887 1401 Constitution Ave, NW Washington, DC 20230

RIN: 0572-ZA01, 0660-ZA28

JOINT REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

SUMMARY The American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 has provisions that are intended to stimulate deployment of high speed Internet access for currently unserved and underserved areas of rural America. Unfortunately, these provisions are drafted in a manner that excludes one of the simplest, most cost effective ways to provide service to sparsely populated areas, satellite Internet. Problematic eligibility requirements eliminate satellite as a qualified technology for delivering Internet service and contradicts the mandate that ARRA awards be made based on a technologically neutral basis. In order to achieve the desired results for the broadband initiative programs it will be necessary to develop one of two options in the subsequent funding rounds. The first option is to set up a separate application process for satellite based Internet service providers seeking BTOP/BIP funds which recognizes the unique and ubiquitous nature of delivering high speed Internet via satellite. This option would be time consuming and not feasible. The second option would be to use the existing application, but waive specific eligibility requirements the excluded satellite from consideration. We recommend that the second option of waiving satellite excluding provisions be implemented as to allow ARRA funds on a technology neutral basis. SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF SATELLITE THAT NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED 1) Satellite is ubiquitous in nature and in theory willwill be available wherever ininadequate urban/suburban service is offered. The definitions of unserved and under served should take this ubiquity into consideration 2) Satellite will be a competitor to other Internet provider technologies and potentially compete with other satellite ISP’s 3) Satellite’s footprint and potential service areas are much different fromthan traditional terrestrial fixed line/ wireless providers

EXAMPLES OF OF PROBLEMATIC APPLICATION QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD BE WAIVED FORPERTAINING TO SATELLITE APPLICANTS C. Executive Summary, Question 8, Broadband Infrastructure Application b) A general description of the proposed funded service areas (location, number of communities, etc.) c) Number of households and businesses passed k) Number of jobs estimated to be created or saved as result of this project. (While this information could be gathered, the effort to do so for a satellite provider would be prohibitively costly and redundant. Much of this information would be next to impossible to collect) Question 31, Broadband Infrastructure Application, Certification by a Professional Engineer 31. Certification by Professional Engineer: For Projects requesting more than $1 million in funding, the network diagram and system design must be certified by a Professional Engineer registered in the state(s)where the service will be provided. The certification must indicate that the proposed broadband system will work as described in the System Design and Network Diagram sections, and can deliver the proposed services outlined in the Service Offerings Section. Moreover, the certification must indicate that Applicant can meet the proposed build-out timeframe and will substantially complete the project within two years, and complete it within three years. Please complete Attachment D.

34. Infrastructure Build-out Timeline: Using the format provided in Attachment E the project plan and build-out timeline showing the following on a quarterly basis for each year of the project based on the date of award funding. Covered Household, Businesses and Community Anchor Institutions/Public Safety Entities: The number and percentage of households, businesses, community anchor institutions, public safety entities and/or critical community facilities in the proposed coverage footprint that will have access to the network.

(Theseis questions are is directed specifically towards traditional terrestrial fixed/wireless providers. The time, effort and expense to certify a CONUS project would be enormous relative to a modest funding request. without a guarantee of funding)

We could continue to list problematic application situations, but what is needed is a review of the specific Application and those problematic provisions that systematically exclude satellite from consideration for funding SATELLITE AS A PLATFORM FOR DELIVERING HIGH SPEED INTERNET When assessing the needs of Rural America, no rural broadband development program should be considered without including two-way satellite broadband. Satellite is now both economically feasible and the one platform that is immediately available to the rural community. Successful business models presently exist in both the commercial and residential sectors. Commercial networks are in operation for large companies such as Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, CVS, Chevron-Texaco, BP, Mobil, Walgreens, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and many more. Job creation is an important part of the ARRA. The continued development of next generation satellite system infrastructure will allow small rural retailers to better compete creating more jobs. Companies thatwho desire a rural setting will find it easier to attract and hold employees allowing them to easier grow more easily, creating more jobs. Affordable, personal broadband has become a is a personal necessity that which workers want to use at homedesire and that in turn it betters rural employee’s’ rural standard of living. Rural health providers will be better able to serve populations. Rural companies will be able to expand positively impacting rural commerce and create new jobs as they better compete with other companies. Job creation will be less per square mile of coverage because of satellite’s CONUS footprint, but far greater many more on an overall nationwide basis. Satellite broadband has long been realized as the ideal delivery platform for service to unserved/underserved Rural America. Both cable and telephone companies are reluctant to build- out the necessary infrastructure because of distance and population economics. Satellite is scalable, reliable, cost effective and distance insensitive. End user capital expense costs per subscriber are less than $500 and continue to decrease. The scalability of the network allows for growth based on direct need of the user and because there is not extensive terrestrial infrastructure., t Uhe upgrading and replacing of outdated infrastructure is much more cost effective. The most important factor is that satellite broadband can be deployed immediately and does not require a long build-out period. Without extensive build-out costs and an extremely large footprint, satellite broadband has long been recognized as the ideal solution for “last mile” connectivity. In the past, satellite broadband was plagued by high costs, slow speeds and inconvenient, bulky systems, but within the past few years technological advances have remedied those concerns. Those advances now allow for low cost terminals which in turn lower the entry point for a user, simplified installation processes reducing the need for costly, time- consuming professional installation, greater satellite efficiencies and most importantly great technological strides have been made in compression, pre-fetching and modulation processes vastly improving user speeds. These speeds now exceed present DSL speeds and offer consumers a vastly improved experience compared to past use. Satellite broadband can now offer speeds of up to 200 mbps, but like other providers the actual user speeds are generally loweress. The cost of satellite bandwidth combined with general user requirements dictates the speeds a provider allows. This policy is no different than other wired or wireless options. One must be cautious to not confuse theoretical maximum speeds that a particular platform could provide and the actual speeds that users truly experience. Carriers offer speeds that they economically can justify economically. In addition, true end-user speeds will also rely on infrastructure strength, POP proximity and modem capabilities. Satellite does have its limitations. While latency does not effect most user applications, satellite is not acceptable for multi-player Internet gaming. On a rare occasion access can be slow due to very poor weather conditions, but in general new generation satellite is very reliable. The independent nature of the network makes it ideal for the “last mile” service and is also the reason satellite is preferred for disaster data retrieval and disaster communications. Under most circumstances advancements in technology have rendered the latency issue a non-factor and is not perceptible to the consumer. These technology advancements make it possible for the military to remotely pilot an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle in Iraq from a base in the U.S. Satellite because of its low cost and scalability is the perfect solution for remote telemedicine facilities, distant learning facilities and low population areas that lack the necessary density to sustain profitable private enterprise solutions. It can provide specific and customized bandwidth that better satisfies the particular end user needs. If a remote medical provider needs 50 mbps speeds, satellite can scale to itstheir needs. If a rancher wants a lower cost 1 mbps service satellite can provide it.