Greetings Everyone,

In light of all that is happening since passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, I am writing to alert you to two events that will shed light on broadband provisions in the federal economic stimulus program.

Save the Date: March 10, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. EST
The U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Rural Development (RUS), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host a public meeting in connection with the Broadband Initiatives funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law No. 111-5. Click here for the full announcement.

DATE: The meeting will be held on March 10, 2009, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Eastern Standard Time.

LOCATION: The meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, 1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W.,
Auditorium, Washington, D.C.

WEB ACCESS: The meeting will also be streamed on the Web with captions and the archive will be made available on NTIA’s website at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants and Rural Development’s website at: http://www.usda.gov/rurdev

FOR MORE INFORMATION: The public meeting agenda and information about the new program will be available at:

NTIA’s website at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants
Rural Development’s website at http://www.usda.gov/rurdev
FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov

This will be the first of several public meetings. Public attendance at the meeting is limited to space available.

Save the Date: March 19, 2009 from 12:00 noon till 1:00 p.m. EST
Please join the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) on a conference call to learn how broadband provisions in the federal economic stimulus program relate specifically to Massachusetts. The call will be facilitated by Stan McGee, chairman of the MBI board and Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and Sharon Gillett, Commissioner of the Department of Telecommunications and Cable. More details to follow.

Sincerely,

Donna Baron
Program Director
Massachusetts Broadband Institute