The President’s Infrastructure Plan Will Help Bolster Broadband Access to Rural America

A task force created by President Donald Trump developed recommendations for promoting prosperity in rural America, and one of its key recommendations is to deploy high-speed internet access to this nation’s farms, factories, forests, and small businesses in rural America.

The President’s infrastructure plan will help states achieve this access by streamlining the arduous permitting approval process for deploying broadband infrastructure like fiber and towers and by incentivizing private capital investment, including the use of public-private partnerships. The President is seeking long-term reforms for infrastructure by stimulating at least $1.5 trillion in new investment and shortening the project approval process to two years. The President’s plan dedicates $50 billion for rural infrastructure capital investments in broadband, power generation, water facilities, transportation, and other asset classes. Given the level of discretion granted to states under the President’s Rural Infrastructure Program, governors can spend 100 percent of the Federal funds they receive under the Program on broadband.