At least $6 billion of Obama's $835 billion infrastructure economic stimulus package will be going toward broadband. However, different versions of the plan are working their way through the House and Senate, with the Senate today considering an amendment that would expand that total to $9 billion worth of grants. Unlike the House version, the Senate version would also give carriers a 10% tax credit for building out high-speed Internet ("defined as 5Mbps/1Mbps) in rural and underserved areas, and a 20% credit for those willing to bring "next gen" (defined as 100Mbps/20Mbps)speeds to existing areas.

Lobbyists are also working hard to eliminate all network neutrality protections tied to taxpayer money. Buried in the House version of the plan is a provision requiring that any government (technically taxpayer) subsidized networks adhere to "open access" conditions – the term left intentionally vague to be more specifically defined by the FCC within 45 days of passage. So far it appears that the Senate version of the plan contains no such network neutrality language. Meanwhile, Qwest lobbyists say they're disappointed by the plan so far:Qwest recently wrote a love letter to the Obama transition team asking for money to be doled out to the states, who would in turn request bids from companies proposing to achieve 95% statewide availability of broadband that's 7Mbps or faster. Qwest failed to note that they've spent millions to prevent cities and towns across the country from wiring themselves with broadband.