Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a webpage to notify the public when the USDA has received applications from rural electric cooperatives and utilities for loans and loan guarantees in which up to 10 percent of the funds will be used to deploy broadband service. The applications pertain to the Electric Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program.

The Rural Utilities Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Service, and Rural Housing Service, agencies that comprise the Rural Development Mission Area within the United States Department of Agriculture, are issuing this final rule to establish the authority authorized by Section 6210 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which will assist rural families and small businesses in gaining access to broadband service by permitting recipients of a loan, grant, or loan guarantee from RD to use up to 10 percent of the amount provided to construct broadband infrastructure in areas not served by

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $2 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in North Carolina. This investment is part of the $100 million Congress allocated to the ReConnect Program through the CARES Act.In rural North Carolina, Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation will use a $2.3 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to connect 3,333 people, 17 farms, 26 businesses and nine educational facilities to high-speed broadband internet in Moore County.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $21 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in North Carolina.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing nearly $3 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Missouri. This investment is part of the $100 million in grant funding made available for the ReConnect Pilot Program through the CARES Act. In rural Missouri, Big River Broadband will use a $2.9 million grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to connect 4,839 people, 54 farms, 27 businesses, two public schools and one fire station to high-speed broadband internet in Cape Girardeau County.

On May 14, the US Department of Agriculture made its final funding announcement under the round one of the ReConnect Program. Since October 2019, USDA has invested $744 million to bring high-speed broadband e-Connectivity to approximately 172,000 households, 19,000 rural small businesses and farms, and more than 500 health care centers, educational facilities, and critical community facilities located in 34 states.

The US Department of Agriculture is investing more than $500,000 to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Iowa. In rural Iowa, Breda Telephone Corp. will use a $523,749 grant to deploy a Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) network to connect 113 people, 20 farms and nine businesses in Arcadia, Iowa, in Carroll County to broadband e-Connectivity.