Did 69% of the FTTH funds go to far southwest Virginia?

I keep looking around online to see who's talking about Connect America and why.  And what are they saying?  Aside from gatherings in Duffield, Virginia and Austin, Texas on Thursday, where else are folks talking about Connect America?   

Here are just  a few examples, and then I ran some numbers, if for no other reason than my own curiosity's sake.  From 2005 - 2012, did 69% of the nation's USDA Community Connect grants for FTTH go to far southwest Virginia??  (chart below)

February 5, 2014: "Members of the Rural Broadband Policy Group (“RBPG”) applaud the FCC’s decision to adopt the Rural Broadband Trials experiment. The experiment opens the door for providers committed to rural communities to access funding to connect the unserved and close the digital divide. Today’s announcement is a major victory for rural consumers and rural broadband deployment."  http://ruralassembly.org/blog/2014/2/5/rural-groups-applaud-fcc-rural-broadband-trials-experiment

February 5, 2014:  "The transition to IP networks, and the policy modernization that will accompany it, represent the largest telecom changes since the ’96 Act. It’s going to be an exciting several years."  Rick Boucher  http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/197573-rick-boucher-the-future-of-telecommunications#ixzz2yDQO6WH3 

April 2, 2014:  "... the Connect America Fund (CAF) – the largest broadband infrastructure program ever established."  FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler blog entry at www.fcc.gov/blog/new-approaches-broadband-wireline-licensed-and-unlicensed

February 13, 2014: "Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted the Rural Broadband Trials – an initiative soliciting proposals to bring advanced services to Rural America with support from the Connect America Fund. For the first time, cooperatives, municipalities, nonprofits, anchor institutions, and Tribal governments will be able to access federal funding to bring broadband service to rural areas. Interested parties have been asked to submit “Expressions of Interest” by March 7th. This is a historic opportunity for entities committed to rural communities and for rural advocates to be part of the technology conversations that impact our everyday lives." Center for Rural Strategies at http://www.ruralstrategies.org/blog-post/webinar-fcc-rural-broadband-trials-funding-connect-rural-america

They totally lost me on that second sentence.  "For the first time, cooperatives, municipalities, nonprofits, anchor institutions, and Tribal governments will be able to access federal funding to bring broadband service to rural areas."  Really??  In contrast, it appears to me that a more correct sentence would be, "Since 2002, cooperatives, municipalities, nonprofits, anchor institutions, and Tribal governments have been accessing federal funding to bring broadband service to rural areas." 

"Major victory" sounds great.  "Largest telecom changes since the ’96 Act" does sounds exciting. "Historic opportunity" sounds wonderful.  "Largest broadband infrastructure program ever established" sounds huge.  (Although I do understand that only a currently unknown portion, will be available through the upcoming competitive application process, Connect America Phase II.)

  

But I am certainly not convinced that "For the first time, cooperatives, municipalities, nonprofits, anchor institutions, and Tribal governments will be able to access federal funding to bring broadband service to rural areas," as stated by the Center for Rural Strategies.

I will admit, aside from the one-time ARRA BIP funds in 2010, from 2005 - 2012, most of the federal grants specifically for rural "last mile" Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) connections, the USDA Community Connect program, went to far southwest Virginia.  Until 2013, almost every other Community Connect grantee was providing broadband through Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (HFC), DSL or wireless. It appears that far southwest Virginia was perhaps running "ahead of the game" in deploying rural FTTH through Community Connect grants during 2005-2012. 

community	grant	population	"per person"	service	year
Rose Hill VA "my grant"	$506,048	714	$709	FTTH	2005
Ewing VA (CDP) "my grant"	$454,558	436	$1,043	FTTH	2006
Saint Charles VA "my grant"	$594,400	159	$3,738	FTTH	2007
Blackwater VA "my grant"	$759,600	90	$8,440	FTTH	2008
Yuma VA "my neighbor's grant"	$999,207	100	$9,992	FTTH	2008
Toms Creek VA "my neighbor's grant"	$1,500,000	100	$15,000	FTTH	2012
Flat Top VA "my neighbor's grant"	$1,500,000	30	$50,000	FTTH	2011
Saint Paul AK	$554,140	532	$1,042	FTTH	2012
Tule River Indian Reservation CA	$795,630	566	$1,406	FTTH	2005
Raymondville MO	$727,388	442	$1,646	FTTH	2007
Oxford ID	$198,292	53	$3,741	FTTH	2005
Darbyville OH	$603,200	40	$15,080	FTTH	2007
Total	$9,192,463

  

Unless some other 2008 grantees were doing FTTH, which doesn't appear to be likely, then from 2005 - 2012, seven out of the twelve Community Connect grants for rural FTTH went to far southwest Virginia.  Collectively, those 7 grant awards add up to 69% of the funds spent on FTTH projects.

Accordingly, from 2005 - 2012, about 69% of the total federal Community Connect grant funds for rural FTTH connections went to far southwest Virginia.