Ag Informer – Connecting the Countryside

The White House announced $714 million in USDA grants and loans to expand access to high-speed internet service in 19 states from South Carolina to California on Monday. With the new round of funding, the USDA has put $2.45 billion into rural broadband through its ReConnect program in the past 18 months.

The ReConnect program is directed at rural areas with lower-quality internet service and calls for construction of facilities that can provide high-speed service of 100 megabits per second for downloading and uploading data. Since President Biden took office, the USDA provided financial assistance to 142 projects to bring high-speed service to 314,000 rural Americans.

Some $65 billion was allotted in the 2021 infrastructure law for an “Internet for All” initiative. In the next three weeks, $42 billion of it will be divided among states based on their needs, said an administration official. The minimum award would be $100 million. “You’ll be able to see what the allocation is to rural America, which will be substantial,” he said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said ReConnect provided important benefits when asked about the comparatively high cost of reaching some homes, businesses and schools.