Mike Dennison
Montana prepping for burst of broadband expansion with federal dollars
As broad swaths of Montana still have substandard high-speed Internet or cell-phone service–or, none at all–the Gianforte administration is launching a federally funded $275 million-plus effort to improve that picture. The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress this March, without a single Republican vote. But Republican leaders in Montana, with bipartisan support, have set up the nine-member Communications Advisory Commission that could start approving projects later this year.