When the city of Duluth, Minnesota, did not receive funding from their broadband stimulus application to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program application, they turned to Google.

A few weeks ago, Google announced their own efforts to expand broadband through a trial of high-speed fiber-optic network which would deliver speeds of one Gigabit per second (1Gbps). As part of their application, the city has even created an amusing Youtube video, saying that all first-born children will be named Google.

LAKE FOREST, Ill., March 3, 2010 – On Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced a brief delay for some applicants for broadband stimulus grants. Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program Comprehensive Community Infrastructure projects will have until March 26th to file their applications to NTIA. Applicants for Rural Utilities Service infrastructure projects will have until March 29th to file their applications to RUS.

But applicants for Applications in NTIA’s two other project categories – Public Computer Centers and Sustainable Broadband Adoption – remain due on March 15th. As regards these latter category of applications, we have found that there are three essential elements in the design and implementation of an effective broadband adoption program for seniors living in senior housing communities and for their surrounding neighborhoods.

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, and WASHINGTON, February 25, 2010 – Connect Illinois, a non-profit organization that includes partnerships with Southern Illinois University, Man-Tra-Con, and Connected Nation, on Thursday announced Drew Clark as its new Executive Director.

Clark, the founder of BroadbandCensus.com and an experienced, independent telecom industry analyst, brings a unique public interest perspective to broadband data collection, which is vital to the effective deployment of high-speed internet networks throughout the United States.

“I’m glad that our team of broadband experts is moving forward to help achieve the ambitious vision for a public, transparent map of technology infrastructure that President Obama and I share,” said Governor Pat Quinn. A long-time advocate of improving broadband access in Illinois, Governor Quinn has worked with public and private partners over many years to ensure connectivity in all areas.

WASHINGTON, February 23, 2010 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski on Tuesday outlined goals for broadband supply and demand, and said that by 2020, 100 megabit per second (Mbps) broadband should be available to 100 million households.

Speaking at the Brookings Institution at the unveiling of an FCC survey on broadband adoption and use in America, Genachowski also said that by 10 years from now, 90 percent of population should have adopted broadband, and that all high school graduates need to be digitally literate.

WASHINGTON, February 17, 2010 – The two branches of the government responsible for doling out grants and loans to improve the nation’s broadband connections announced on Jan. 15 revised parameters for their second round of funding.

WASHINGTON, February 16, 2010 – New government data show demographic groups across the nation have experienced rising broadband internet access adoption at home but disparities persist among some groups.

WASHINGTON, February 13, 2010 – The snowstorm that shut much of Washington down this past week will not change the due date for Round 2 broadband stimulus applications, nor will it delay the naming of Round 1 winners, federal officials said Friday.

Speaking at a “Broadband Stimulus Town Hall Workshop Webcast,” National Telecommunications and Information Administration Senior Advisor Angela Simpson assured the panelists that the Commerce Department does not believe that the March 15 due date for Round 2 stimulus applications is in jeopardy.

Rural Utilities Service Deputy Administrator Jessica Zufolo said that the agency has dedicated $300 million in Round 1 awards, and is on target for its end-of-February deadline for making awards public.

WASHINGTON, February 8, 2010 – The NTIA/RUS Round Two Public Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, February 9, 2010, in Blacksburg, Virginia has been cancelled due to inclement weather.

This leaves two remaining Round Two Workshops, out of the 10 originally scheduled: Thursday, February 11 in Fayetteville, N.C.; and Friday, February 12 in Atlanta, Ga.

WASHINGTON, February 5, 2010 – The Commerce Department on Friday announced two additional broadband stimulus funding grants: $5.9 million to the South Carolina Technical College System, and $1.2 million to a consortium of Rhode Island’s 71 public libraries.

Both grants were made under the portion of funds — $50 million in the first round of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program — earmarked by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for public computing centers.

“Thanks to this funding, public computer centers and computer labs throughout the state of South Carolina will be able to serve more than twice the current number of users,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement.

WASHINGTON, February 2, 2010 – The Rural Utilities Service of the Agriculture Department on Monday posted its guide to applying for grants awarded through the Broadband Infrastructure Program, or its portion of the broadband stimulus effort.

The documents, posted on the “information library” portion of the BroadbandUSA web site, include the templates necessary to apply for RUS grants under the broadband stimulus program.

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is responsible for the bulk of the broadband grants under its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, has not yet posted its application guide.