The Washington broadbandwagon

[Commentary] Noam offers ten principles to guide the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's new broadband program: 1. Focus on stimulating the economy first and second on accelerating connectivity to the high-speed Internet. 2. Simplicity -- criteria for funding must be straightforward, quantifiable, and public. 3. Shovel-ready technology projects. 4. Decentralization -- state Public Utility Commissions, State-level Internet expansion agencies, and local first-mile boards should play a real input in the initial review and ranking of the grant applications, with criteria and final decisions set in Washington. 5. Transparency via auditing and law enforcement. 6. Incentives -- top-performing projects should be rewarded through further grants. 7. Independent Performance Evaluation. 8. Willingness to Fail. 9. Feedback to inform future grant activities. 10. Government Accountability -- aggregate and evaluate the performance of the money and its impact.