Thankfully few of us will have to read through the 2,200+ broadband applications received by the NTIA/RUS. I read an interesting article (Tough choices for feds giving out broadband money) however that condenses the range of proposals into 4 samples. It demonstrates how the competition for funding is not apples to apples as well as gives a nice range of the requests.

1. There’s the Coeur d’Alene Indian tribe in the Idaho panhandle. The tribe is asking for $12.2 million for a ring of fiber-optic lines that could connect up to 3,500 homes on one side of its rural reservation, which is about half the size of Rhode Island.
2. Clearwire is asking for $19.4 million to build a high-speed wireless network in a handful of poor Detroit neighborhoods that it otherwise might not serve anytime soon.
3. In Appalachia, the Mountain Area Information Network (MAIN) is asking for $2.5 million to extend its wireless network in Asheville, N.C., and several remote mountain communities. A sister non-profit is asking for $38.8 million to install fiber lines that would connect that network to the Internet.
4. Philadelphia is asking for $21.8 million to connect police precincts, fire stations, libraries, housing projects, recreation centers and community organizations across three inner-city neighborhoods. The city’s public housing authority would like $2.4 million to place computer labs in housing projects. And the city’s library system, working closely with community groups, is asking for $15 million to set up Internet training programs, supply laptops and install Internet connections to get low-income residents online.

I’ve pretty much cut and pasted the info above form the article but I thought it might be interesting to put a Minnesota spin on it to find applications in Minnesota that mirror the projects above.

1. The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe has requested $ 4,148,870 (loan and $ 4,148,870 grant) to connect Community Anchor Institutions across the Leech Lake Indian Reservation to bring health, public safety and human services across the reservation. This network will consist of a 115 mile fiber optic network with a WiMax overlay to reach outlying areas and provide public safety connectivity.
2. The City of Minneapolis has requested $ 3,302,955 to bring broadband connectivity to the residents of Minneapolis Public Housing’s 41 high rises using a DSLAM network. Through use of rooftop transmitters connecting to the existing municipal WiFi network, the City of Minneapolis is able to empower these underserved residents with broadband capability for a minimal cost to both the government and to end-users.
3. Hiawatha Broadband Communications, Inc. has requested $ 5,729,891 to provide last-mile service to Minneiska, Miesville, New Trier, areas in Lake City and Red Wing, in addition to constructing middle-mile connections between the five communities and Hiawatha Broadband’s network termination in Wabasha. The farm service area connections will offer broadband services to an additional 215 underserved homes and farmsteads along the route.
4. The Blandin Foundation has requested $ 4,858,219 for the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities (MIRC) initiative, a comprehensive, multi-sector approach to sustainable broadband adoption. Through education, training, technical assistance and barrier removal, an array of market development strategies will provide opportunity to residents, small businesses, local governments, and critical needs providers in rural Minnesota.