For those who are pursuing federal stimulus funds for broadband expansion—particularly for expanding public computing centers—the General Accounting Office (GAO) has released a Report to Congressional Committees, http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1080.pdf, that provides an interesting assessment of the performance of NTIA and RUS in administering the broadband program so far.

Every fall, OPLIN requires that every library, regional library system, and State Library location which has an OPLIN connection submit two forms to us for E-rate: a Letter of Agency, and a Form 479. It's time now for this year's submission. The procedure is simple:

As we do every year, we respectfully request that every Ohio public library system participate in the OPLIN annual survey of public computer access. The purposes of this survey are:

On Friday July 31, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will open the application process for $50 million of a $200 million earmark in the Recovery Act for expanding computer center capacity under their Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). This is the first of three rounds of funding releases; applications for this first $50 million round of funds are due by 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 14, 2009.