Tired of trolling the singles scene for broadband partners? The NTIA has created a matchmaking site! Here’s the official announcement:

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Rural Utilities Service today announced the launch of a new online tool to make it easier for parties to facilitate partnerships for the agencies’ broadband grant and loan programs. The site is available at http://match.broadbandusa.gov.

Unfortunately you have fill out a potential partner profile before you can search the database so I didn’t poke around too much – but I love the idea. And although it’s a pain to me, I like the idea that you have to register to search. Not that you couldn’t fill out a mock profile but it’s a bit of a barrier to anyone who might just be nosing around.

I like the fact that the NTIA is helping people getting connected – for the same reasons that I was glad that Blandin Foundation gathered potential ARRA partners last April. It’s a great opportunity to turn potential competitors into collaborators and I think that can only make each proposal strong, which in turns gives us better initiatives improving broadband, which helps bring the US (even rural US) closer to being broadband leaders/contenders.