Rural Broadband Provider Organizations Ask USDA to Relax "Onerous" ReConnect Award Rules

NTCA — The Rural Broadband Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) asked the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to relax certain rules for the ReConnect rural broadband funding program. The ReConnect program covers some of the costs of deploying broadband to unserved rural areas where build-out costs are high. ReConnect 100% grant awards require matching funds, and currently, recipients must spend all matching funds before they can begin using grant funding. The associations ask the RUS to modify that requirement, arguing that it is “unnecessarily onerous – especially at a time when providers are compelled to monitor cash flows as customers increasingly struggle to pay bills.” Instead, the letter recommends that service providers should only be required to match 25% of the amount drawn from grant funds within each fiscal year.