Stimulus 1st step in Obama's broadband goals

The $7.2 billion in funding to promote high-speed Internet in the stimulus package is just the first step in the Obama administration's effort to fuel expansion of telecommunications services, says Blair Levin, an adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama on telecom matters during the transition and now an informal adviser. "Despite new federal money, the amount is but a fraction of what is needed" to establish the United States in terms of broadband versus other developed countries. "You've got to take a long view," said Blair, who recently returned to his position as an investment adviser at investment banking firm Stifel Nicolaus and spoke to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Gerald Granovsky, a senior analyst at Moody's, said a key area to watch is reform of the universal service fund, which provides nationwide telephone service. There is an effort to use some of the money collected from that fund for broadband, which is currently not technically allowed in the law.