Craig Settles, a broadband consultant and president of Successful.com, said Qwest and the other large broadband providers won't be missed. Much of the next round of funding should go to communities that have formed partnerships with vendors willing to meet their needs, he said.

"If [the large providers] have no willingness to play by open access and net neutrality rules, then communities should look for other options," he said.

Large providers that have refused to cover certain areas could easily pull out of unprofitable communities even after receiving stimulus funding, he said. Several communities, including Wilson, North Carolina, and Lafayette, Louisiana, have already built their own broadband networks, Settles added.

"Communities that own their own networks don't have the same profit motive," he said. "They need to sustain the network, but not take care of high executive salaries and stakeholders. Communities can pick from a greater variety of technologies than any one incumbent can offer."