Broadband Stimulus: Don't Get a Headache from the Incumbents' Latest Whine

[Commentary] How do you know when the public is being played by the telecom incumbents? By the responsiveness of its service and the quality of its whine. The telecos have already declared the first round of broadband stimulus funding a failure. Their proof? They are not apply for funds. This is an orchestrated PR campaign by the telcos who want to set the stage so they can get incumbent-friendlier rules for Round 2 grant funding. "If the first round is a failure because we're not playing, and we're not playing because we don't like the rules, then you need to change the rules to make us happy if you don't want Round 2 to be a failure." Those of you queuing up community-focused broadband proposals, make your voices heard during the NTIA's upcoming request for input on improving the rules, or else you could wake to new ones that are worse than some of the current rules. This assumption that the incumbents not applying for stimulus spells failure for the broadband stimulus program is totally without merit because the logic underneath the claim is flawed.