Arizona Broadband Forum Probes 20 Percent Match to Obtain Federal Funds

At the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Rural Utilities Services' Wednesday joint public meeting in Flagstaff (AZ), tension surfaced when NTIA's Mark Seifert put the implications of accountability, innovation, and wide distribution of funds under the spotlight. Many wanted the 20 percent match provision waived as a matter of course. Some called for acceptance of "in-kind" contributions - like state deeds to the rights of way for telecommunications wires - as constituting a match . Seifert's pushing back in his questions may indicate that the agency is more inclined to stretch the public dollar by staying with a requirement for a cash match in most cases. Echoing his call at the same panel in Las Vegas for carriers to put some "skin in the game," Seifert addressed a credible proposal, and said that there would need to be a relationship between "assertions and proof." A better proposal would show that "people have thought this through". He also characterized a need to create projects that support a "test-bed" model. Seifert also pleaded for ideas that would allow NTIA to sort out a pending deluge of grant applications.