STATE OF N EBRASKA

Dave Heineman O FFICE OF Tl-IE G OVERr\OR

Governor P.O . Box 94848 · Lincoln, Nebraska 68509·4848
Phone: (402) 471 -2244 . dave.heineman@nebraska.gov

October 9, 2009

VIA EMAIL: imartinez@ ntia.doc.gov

Lawrence E. Strickling
Assistant Secretary
United State Department of Commerce
Nationa l Te lecommunications and Information Administration
Washington, D.C. 20230

Dear Mr. Strickling:

This letter serves as the State of Nebraska's comments on the application s received for the first round of
grant fund ing under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) created by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 .

Given the lim ited amo unt of information available and limited time in which to review the projects, we
have chosen to only comment on a few of t he projects.

LAST MILE/M IDDLE M ILE PROJECTS

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

• Applicant: Great Plains Communications, Inc,

Title: Great Plains Communications Fiber-to-the-Node/Fiber-to-the-Home Last Mile
Project
Comments: This proposal offers increased service in the rural areas of So utheast,
Central, Northeast, and South-Centra l Nebraska. They are an established compa ny in
Nebraska and understa nd the needs of the cllstomer base.
• Applicant: Pinpoint Communications, Inc.
Title: Pinpoint WiMax
Comments: Th is Nebraska based compa ny is proposing to add Wi MAX to t heir current
network in rura l Southwest Nebraska w ithin 12 months of funding.

RECOMMENDED

• Applicant: Cable Nebraska, LLC

Title: Nebraska Heartland Rural Broadband
Comments: The project serves an unserved area of Nebraska (Alma to Riverton and 22.5
mi les of Midd le Mi le network backbone from Highway 22/81 to Creston ), and wi ll pass

An Equal Opporlull flwAffirmoliue Action Employer

I'fin/ild \.,lIh WoIlnk on r«YfMd p.lJ)"
 1,690 house holds and 87 businesses, and provides a GigE backbone using carrier grade
equipment.
• Applicant: Long Lines Siouxland, LLC
Title: NE Nebraska Broadband Project
Com ments: This project proposes to dep loy high-speed wireless broadband services to
users in underserved areas of Northeast Nebraska using a combination of 4G wireless
service and a fiber network.
• Applicant: Eastern Nebraska Telephone Company (ABHe)
Title: Eastern NE Fiber Exchange Network Upgrades
Comment s: This Nebraska based com pany has a chosen a project that provides service
to an unserved and und erserved area of Nebraska. The gigabit passive optic network
wou ld provide service in Meadow Grove, Walthill, Macy, Rosa lie and Winnebago.

PUBLI C COMPUTER CENTER PROJECTS

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

• Applicant: Applied Information Management Institute

Title: Nebraska Public Computer Centers
Comments: This project wi ll serve vu lnerable populations in East Omaha and the eleve n-
cou nty area co mprising the Panhand le.

Thank you for providing the opportunity to comme nt on these BTOP applications, if you have any
questions about these recommendations, please co nta ct Bren da Decker, Chief Inform atio n Office r, at
402-471-3717 .

Dave Heinema n
Governor