The final passing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill by Congress last week calls for over $6 billion in grants for the expansion of broadband areas across America. This funding will provide continued progress in the deployment and adoption of broadband technology that is vital to ensuring that the United States will remain competitive worldwide. As a platform capable of providing access everywhere, wireless broadband will be essential in bringing innovation and helping reach the Obama Administration’s goal of achieving universal broadband connectivity.

Commercial entities are clearly eligible for direct grants from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), go to http://www.ntia.doc.gov/. Commercial wireless hardware vendors and network providers stand ready to move forward with plans to bring wireless broadband to rural and underserved areas. Having direct access to grant funding will allow them to do so in a timely manner, helping create jobs fast, enable productivity, and should help jump-start our economy.