Advancing Broadband: A Foundation for Strong Rural Communities

The Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) released a report that details all the projects that won American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus awards.

This fall RUS successfully completed its final round of grant awards under the Recovery Act. In the last year and a half, we've done more to bridge the digital divide for rural Americans than many ever thought possible. The Recovery Act has unleashed an historic level of investment in rural high speed telecommunications infrastructure that will create new jobs, new services and new opportunities across the countryside. The Recovery Act Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) consisted of two rounds of funding. In those two rounds the RUS broadband team reviewed more than 3,000 applications and selected 320 projects for awards across 46 states and one territory. This amazing accomplishment will help transform rural communities and lead to new economic opportunities that we can only begin to imagine. By leveraging the original $2.5 billion authorized by Congress to fund loans as well as grants, USDA was able to invest almost $3.53 billion in rural broadband infrastructure. In addition, $285 million of non-federal funds were committed to be invested in BIP projects. This funding will enable around 7 million rural Americans to connect to one of 285 last-mile, 12 middle-mile, or four satellite projects funded by the BIP program. On top of that, over 360,000 businesses and 30,000 community service organizations such as hospitals, schools and public safety agencies will be connected to a high-speed digital future.