By Monica Alleven
Thursday, July 2, 2009
WiMAX service provider Towerstream is one of the companies hoping to boost the economy as part of the broadband stimulus package.
The government yesterday published the criteria that it will use in judging funding applications for the broadband stimulus grants. Projects that provide wired or wireless access starting at low-end DSL speeds will be considered, but priority will be given to ones that promise higher speeds. That should prove beneficial to Towerstream, says CEO Jeff Thompson.
Towerstream executives this morning were still poring over the 120+ pages outlining the criteria for grants, but so far, it looks like the company is in a good position to go after funds.
Towerstream’s business model so far doesn’t involve going after consumers but small and mid-sized businesses. Most of the jobs in the United States are created by small businesses, and Towerstream can help them be more productive by providing wireless broadband, including for video, he says.
Thompson says he’s encouraged by the timeline for releasing funds and the fact it looks like “shovel ready” or companies with experience building out systems will be given priority. “We’ve done this for years now,” he says. “We could do it quickly.”