Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from George Notter - Jefferies & Co.
George Notter - Jefferies & Co.
I guess I wanted to ask about the timing of the broadband stimulus plan and I guess I’m trying to get a better sense for when you think that might start to benefit your business next year.
Thomas R. Stanton
Thanks George. Well, I hate to say, but the timing of the broadband stimulus plan is still a little uncertain. Where we are as far as the first phase is concerned is the notices to actually who actually achieved or was going to receive the funds is supposed to be early November, I think November 7. I think that’s still the official date but I think there’s a chance that that actually may move out. And the extent of that move out we don’t know.
We’re still very hopeful that it would happen this year. Now after that notice of the receipt of being awarded funds, it’s up to another 30 days or so for those funds to actually make it into the customer’s hands. And then you would see the turnaround you know making it into orders and then shipments. So as of right now it’s still kind of a December-ish potential, but I think as I mentioned there’s a likelihood that that would actually move out, which is why in my comments I mentioned we really weren’t planning for that in the fourth quarter although we would expect to start seeing some benefit in the first quarter.
The other two phases, as directed right now there are three phases, it looks like there’s a good chance that Phase Two and Phase Three will be collapsed into a single phase which would be awarded sometime mid next year with the real finish date which is at this point in time set in stone of September 30 for being when all the money has to be used up, the $7.2 billion. So it’s definitely a 2010 event, you know potentially early 2010. We’re not expecting anything in the fourth quarter.
George Notter - Jefferies & Co.
So if I were to try to you know pin you down a little bit more precisely, I mean do you think then Q1 is when you really start to see you know the bulk of the money kind of flowing through to your customers and you’ll start seeing that spend? Or do you think it would be maybe more like Q2? And when do you really start to see the ramp?
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