I first wrote about Ofer Tenenbaum’s WISP, PNC.net, late last year. At the time, the company had 500 customers, was growing fast, and was profitable.
When I saw his name on the list of stimulus applicants, I got back in touch.
The stimulus has allowed him to consider a rapid expansion, using the best available equipment, and working with neighboring ISPs in the NorCal Broadband Access Consortium, which he leads. The Consortium aims to provide WiMAX to rural California counties of Lake, Glenn, Colusa, Napa, and Solano. PNC applied for a $3,136,103 grant and a $2,568,883 loan. The Consortium applied for about $200 million, Tenenbaum said.
Here’s how.
Building a consortium
When did you first hear about the stimulus? “I first heard about it when Obama was running for office. I knew this was coming but couldn’t do much before the NOFA (notice of funds available).”
Tenenbaum started gathering his team a few months before the NOFA, finalized the group two weeks before it, and started work on the grant the instant it was issued.
“I’m surprised how few WISPs applied,” he said.
But Tenenbaum admitted that the application can seem daunting.
It requires the technical expertise that WISPs already have plus people able to map the coverage area, build a budget, ensure compliance with the NOFA, and more.
One unexpected but key job is that of community builder. Tenenbaum said he had one person calling key organizations, what the NOFA and the recovery act (ARRA) call “anchor institutions” to get them involved. He said the Consortium filed over 50 letters of support from sheriffs, fire departments, and other anchor institutions.
The community builder position was a full time job.
For mapping, the Consortium worked with CSU, Chico, also known as Chico State University. This has been a headache for many WISPs and grant writers. Many offer services for a fee.
Brian Webster of Brian Webster Consulting can do a map for an application. I spoke to him in February about his business.
The WiNOG cooperative can also do mapping (and can do an entire WISP grant application).
For accounting, PNC.net used its accountant, a retired man the company found through the university’s Center for Economic Development, who has been excellent for PNC and for the grant. “My advice to WISPs is to find a worthy CPA like ours that is willing to adopt the company,” said Tenenbaum. “Why adopt? Because you can never pay someone like that what they are worth.”
He added that because PNC’s accounts are so thorough, the company usually files its tax returns in January.
Even with the team ready to go on day one, the application took eight weeks. The team read and re-read the NOFA guidelines and gathered all the information required. The team submitted a version by postal mail on the initial deadline, and followed up with an electronic submission when the deadline was extended by a week.
“I am lucky to have such a great team, both the field and the grant teams. Without such a great field team I would have not been able to disconnect and focus on the grant, and without such a super grant team, I would have not been able to submit a quality application on time and by the guidelines,” Tenenbaum said.
Questions about WiMAX
The Consortium is testing the various providers. Tenenbaum noted that once you choose a WiMAX vendor, you’re locked in.
The deployment will use the 3.65 GHz spectrum. Will it be by the book? “What book? There is no book. We will use strong point to point (PtP) solutions. It will be a better system than what we would build without the stimulus. In the past, we did everything on a shoestring with scarce resources.”
In a rural area such as that covered by the Consortium, noise is not a major issue. The system does have to perform as expected, hence the testing.
Any advice for WISPs considering applying for stimulus money in round 2? “Start now. There’s so much to do. We had a spreadsheet that divided the NOFA into what seemed like 100 assignments and we had to track the daily completion percentage for the tasks.”
Tags: california, Stimulus, wisp