Federal stimulus could expand Internet access in the Bush

Congress set aside more than $7 billion for grants and loans as part of the stimulus program to expand high-speed Internet access.

The money will generally be headed to rural parts of the country, and the Agriculture and Commerce departments are planning decisions soon on the first round of applicants, possibly before the end of the year.

Tanana Chiefs Conference has applied for up to $273 million in grants to bring high-speed access to 50 villages from Holy Cross, 400 miles southwest of Fairbanks, all the way to the Canadian border, according to the Alaska Native consortium.

The Kodiak Kenai Cable Co., a subsidiary of the Kodiak-based Old Harbor Native Corp., is also seeking hundreds of millions in grants and loans for its proposal to drop a ring of undersea fiber-optic cable around Alaska.

Alaska already hosts a fiber-optic backbone that connects its southern coastlines to Prudhoe Bay. But much of the Internet access arrives, particularly in rural areas, at speeds far slower than considered the staple for broadband: 768 kilobits per second.

Slow access can impede economic development in rural areas across the nation.

"In Alaska that is almost any place outside of the largest cities," said Steve Smith, the top information technology officer at the University of Alaska.

Other groups from Alaska applying for broadband stimulus grants or loans include:

• United Utilities, to connect 65 Southwest Alaska communities through undersea and overland fiber optic lines and microwave technology.

• Bristol Bay Native Association, to connect areas between Dillingham and the Kenai Peninsula with broadband.

• Northwest Arctic Borough, to blend fiber optics and microwaves to help 16 communities market traditional Native art and cultural products.

• The university system, for $22 million in grants to expand access to broadband at community colleges, public libraries, and rural health and tribal government facilities.