Networking firms in Silicon Valley see stimulus potential in their customers - bizjournals:

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billion in stimulus monet the federal government plans to spene to improve broadband access is viewed asa “wait and situation for Silicon Valley networking companies. As in, whilde waiting for the government’s rulees on how and where the monegy canbe used, they are seeing what their customers need for projectw backed by the stimuluss spending. Giants such as are vying for chunks ofthe funding, but even the valley’ smaller “arms dealers” (as one wit put it) are determinin g how to help customers apply for the potentially lucrativee grants — because if thoswe customers get grant money, they will need Of the total, the U.S.
Commerce Department’ National Telecommunications and Information Administration willdistributre $4.7 billion to build broadband infrastructure in underserved deliver broadband to public safet agencies and stimulate demand through traininb and education. The remaining $2.5 billion will be governer by the Rural Utilities Service underthe U.S. Departmentf of Agriculture for ruralbroadband development. The fina rules governing the broadband provisions are expecte to be releasedin June. Companies say it couls be the end of June before the two agencies administering the money will start takinggrant applications. It could be December beforew the money is readyto go.
Or the finalizatioj of the rules and the notice of fundxs becoming available couldhappen “In the end, this is about creatingg jobs, so the more jobs you’rew able to create with your the more support you’rw likely to get,” said Rich Wonders, executive vice presidenyt at Paris-based . “You need to lay out your advocacuy plan and start gathering suppory atthe local, state and federal Cisco is working on aspects of the stimulus packagse for government and private-sector customers includingv broadband deployment and information technology for health “The ultimate impact on Cisco will dependc on how those customers access and implement programs funde d with stimulus money,” spokeswoman Jennifer Greeson said.
Junipe r Networks Inc. is working to get several product lines added to the list of vendor equipment approver by the RuralUtilities Service. Public sector marketing managef Don Root said that because much of the stimuluws funding is aimed at rural providers, many Juniper customers already have local expertisr in applying for grants, and Juniper is helpinf as needed. Wonders said it’s hard for Alcatel-Lucent to determinre how responses to the government should look because the parametersxremain undefined. “I won’ty pretend we’ve figured it out.
The bill is not just lookin to give consumers access to faster broadbanr so they candownload YouTube,” Wondersz said, “but to connect patients to doctorxs and students to schools, and the list goes on and Alcatel’s IP routing division is basesd in Mountain View, and it has the No. 2 markey share behind Cisco inIP “edge routing,” whicy optimizes routes and load distribution between There’s a notion that even a basic presence of broadbande makes an area served, but Wonders said a person doesn’t have to drive very far from San Jose or San Franciscl to find areas that are underserved.
Alcatel has presented 11 customer workshops and disseminated information to morethan 10,000 customers on broadband stimuluss in the past two and it is helping customers draft granf applications. When the rules are published, the company will post them on a Web site aimedx atrural broadband, broadband4all.com/alu. Covad Communicationa Group, the San Jose-based broadband service company, is examining two aspectz of the stimulus targeting smalland medium-size businesses acrosw the country to upgrade their connectivity speedss at lower prices, and looking at underservedf areas to offer higher bandwidth at lowee prices. But whether Covad will applyh for the grants remains tobe seen.
“Wed are actively evaluating whetherto apply. It comes down to economicse because the broadbandstimulus … ofteh involves some matching funds. We’re seeinfg if we can raise the capital to do our part of the and then pay for theoperational cost,” said Jasom Wakefield, Covad’s vice president of governmentalo and external affairs. “We need to make sure the businesw casesupports it.” Like many of his networking cohorts, Tom Gallatin, founder and managing partne of data access switch makerf Gigamon LLC, said his company probablyy won’t apply directly for any stimulus But Gigamon stands to benefit when its customerz apply for grants.
Those customers includ e service providers VerizonCommunications Inc., AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nexte Corp. as well as cable companies ComcastCable Co., Cox Communications Inc. and Chartere Communications Inc. “I compare the stimuluas packageto (President Dwight D.) Eisenhower’s Interstatde Highway package in the Gallatin said. “It stimulated businessz ... and now we’re doing the same thing