Dear Senator Marsh,
I understand you are in favor of using $800-Million of the state's $1.7-Billion Federal Allocation for Covid19 Relief for a high speed cable project.
Let me suggest you look back at a similar 2009 project awarded during the Bob Riley Administration. You were in the State Senate then too, so I am sure you remember Riley creating what was called the "Alabama Broadband Initiative and Connecting ALABAMA".
One of the Federal grants awarded as a result of that initiative was to Trillion Communications, a Bessemer company.
It won the almost $60-Million federal grant for a more limited but similar purpose to the one you want to fund with the Covid19 Relief fund.
The U.S. Department of Commerce described that old grant this way:
The above U.S. Commerce Department description was in a 9-26-2012 letter to Trillion terminating the project and demanding the money be returned.
After two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, not a single customer was connected to broadband service, and Commerce Department determined the company would not be able to accomplish it.
So, Senator, you want to spend more than ten times that amount for broadband. May I suggest you meet with Governor Riley, the people who were with Trillion, and some of elected officials in the black belt back then? Find out what went wrong so you can avoid an even larger debacle?
And one more thought: SpaceX is in the process of launching as many as 42,000 small satellites to provide affordable internet access virtually everywhere (including even Alabama!).
Maybe we should wait a while before spending $800-Million on a land-based cable system?
* for younger visitors, a "cable" was another word for a "telegram".
a "telegram: was a physical DM, but delivered by hand, like mail.
"mail" was like email, but without the "e". The Post Office delivered it.
The "Post Office" was....aw, forget it.
I understand you are in favor of using $800-Million of the state's $1.7-Billion Federal Allocation for Covid19 Relief for a high speed cable project.
Let me suggest you look back at a similar 2009 project awarded during the Bob Riley Administration. You were in the State Senate then too, so I am sure you remember Riley creating what was called the "Alabama Broadband Initiative and Connecting ALABAMA".
One of the Federal grants awarded as a result of that initiative was to Trillion Communications, a Bessemer company.
It won the almost $60-Million federal grant for a more limited but similar purpose to the one you want to fund with the Covid19 Relief fund.
The U.S. Department of Commerce described that old grant this way:
"In July 2010, Trillion was awarded a $59.2 million BTOP grant for a project that proposed bringing high-capacity broadband capabilities to eight Alabama counties through a public-private partnership between A2D, Inc., and the South Central Alabama Broadband Commission (SCABC). The approved project included a 2,200 route mile network (approximately 1,400 middle mile and approximately 800 last mile), 15,000 fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connections, WiMax last mile connectivity in four towns, and service to 418 Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs)."
The above U.S. Commerce Department description was in a 9-26-2012 letter to Trillion terminating the project and demanding the money be returned.
After two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, not a single customer was connected to broadband service, and Commerce Department determined the company would not be able to accomplish it.
So, Senator, you want to spend more than ten times that amount for broadband. May I suggest you meet with Governor Riley, the people who were with Trillion, and some of elected officials in the black belt back then? Find out what went wrong so you can avoid an even larger debacle?
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| SpaceX Satellites Dropping into position. |
Maybe we should wait a while before spending $800-Million on a land-based cable system?
* for younger visitors, a "cable" was another word for a "telegram".
a "telegram: was a physical DM, but delivered by hand, like mail.
"mail" was like email, but without the "e". The Post Office delivered it.
The "Post Office" was....aw, forget it.
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