Biden-Harris Administration Invests $63 Million in High-Speed Internet in Rural Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Mississippi

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $63 million to bring high-speed internet access to people living and working in rural areas in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Mississippi. The investments include funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $63 million in grants comes from the third funding round of the ReConnect Program, in which USDA invested a total of $1.7 billion. The four projects being funded are:

• Illinois: McDonough Telephone Cooperative is receiving an $18 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. The network will connect 1,583 people, 274 farms and 41 businesses to high-speed internet in, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, and Warren counties. The company will make internet access affordable through the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Programs (ACP).
• Michigan: Alpha Enterprises Limited, Inc. is receiving a $19.5 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network that will connect 1,023 people, 19 businesses and 10 farms to high-speed, ed internet in Chippewa and Mackinac counties. Alpha Enterprises Limited, Inc. will make high-speed internet affordable through the FCC’s ACP and Lifeline program.
• Minnesota: Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative is receiving a $10 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. The network will connect 3,529 people, 71 businesses, 35 farms, and two p, public schools to high-speed internet in Hubbard, Itasca, and St. Louis counties.
• Mississippi: Uplink Internet LLC is receiving a $15 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. This network will connect 2,340 people, 143 farms, 45 businesses, and a public school to high-speed internet in Coahoma, Quitman, and Tunica counties. It also will serve socially vulnerable communities in these counties, which are supported by the Rural Partners Network, an all-of-government initiative that combines federal, state, and local resources to address specific needs in rural and tribal communities across the country.