From Virginia Business magazine:

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine appointed consultant Leonard M. Pomata to become Virginia’s secretary of technology.

Pomata will replace Aneesh Chopra, who was appointed by President Barack Obama to become the country’s first Chief Technology Officer.

Pomata has been an information technology consultant for businesses since 2007. Previously, he worked in a variety of information technology firms. He was COO and president of DIGICON from 2004 and 2007. He also served as president of the webMethods Inc.’s Government Business Unit; senior vice president of business development at Oracle Corp.; and CEO and president of PRC Inc.

Pomata served on the Virginia Governor’s Commission on Information Technology from 1998 to 2000 and was appointed to the Virginia Security and Preparedness Panel in 2001.

Virginia’s Office of Telework and Broadband Assistance recently released a map to give policy makers, local government leaders, and service providers a more detailed picture of broadband coverage in the state as they work to provide “last-mile” broadband in their communities. 

You can zoom in by localities to see who’s got speed…and perhaps more importantly, who doesn’t.

To see more, click the map, below.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now accepting grants to bring broadband service to rural areas.  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called Universal access to affordable broadband essential to creating jobs and boosting local economies and create jobs.

“All Americans – regardless of where they live – should be able to benefit from the opportunities available in our digital age,” he said, per the Dairy Herd Management trade journal.

State and local governments, corporations and Indian tribes are eligible to apply for grants from $50,000 to $1 million through USDA’s Community Connect Grant Program, which was created to help rural residents tap into the tremendous potential of the internet.

For more info, check out the full story.

Wes Rosenbalm, who runs a fiber-optic broadband network in Bristol, Va., says reaching spread-out and sparsely populated regions of southwestern Virginia will cost much more than the initial $26 million he raised. “We are committed to getting to every area we can get to,” Mr. Rosenbalm said in a recent interview.

The newspaper notes: IBM Global Services and International Broadband Electric Communications, an Alabama company that has developed both the technology and service model to make the system work, began deploying Internet service last year.  This week, the firms announced an expansion to include five more cooperatives in Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia.

Technology to send broadband over power lines has been around for several years, but it typically hasn’t been able to offer enough capacity at a low enough price to beat service from cable and phone companies.

But with government subsidies, the approach is starting to be deployed in areas that don’t have access to other forms of broadband.  Read the full article here. 

(It’s also been called the “cyberbridge to nowhere.”) 

However, listen to an interview with a charged up William Wallace, chairman of DigitalBridge Communications in Ashburn, Va.  As he tells WiMax.com:

“We think the broadband stimulus program is great for the country, great for the WiMAX ecosystem, and great for DigitalBridge Communications.  DBC is ready to hit the ground running with numerous shovel-ready projects across multiple states.”

Read more here.

While proponents – such as us – say it will create jobs, build crucial infrastructure and expand the information superhighway across the U.S., the critics warn that lawmakers shouldn’t rush to approve the money without a solid plan for its usage in place.  As proponents, even we agree.

Says industry analyst Craig Settles:

“The first rule of technology investment is you spend time understanding the end user, what they need and the conditions under which they will use the technology.  If you don’t do this well, you end up throwing millions or, in this case, potentially billions down a rat hole. You will spend money for things that people don’t need or can’t use.”

It’s a very good point.  “Money for rural broadband” sounds like an easy play, but without a proper path for those funds, that $9 billion could dry up quickly and leave the U.S. with nothing more than $9 billion less in cash.  Any immediate stimulus, you have to admit, won’t be immediate.  As the paper notes, it’ll be 2015 before the money is spent to deliver the service.

There’s more to consider.  Overall, the broadband package would be great for America – so long as it’s money used wisely.

“Through many meetings with citizens and local officials, I heard the concerns and hopes about this package. I have fought hard to make sure small towns and rural communities are represented. I have fought for investments in rural broadband and other infrastructure projects that create value and competitiveness over the long term.”

According to the statement released by his office, Virginia is expected to receive nearly $1 billion for infrastructure investment – $745 million for highways and bridges and $118 million for water and sewer. Across the U.S., the bill also ensures that 3.4 million rural households have new or improved service, with $6 billion in rural broadband investment.