US Department of Agriculture

The Trump Administration announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $3 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in North Carolina. This investment is part of the $100 million in grant funding made available for the ReConnect Pilot Program through the CARES Act.

The Trump Administration announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $16 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Mississippi. This investment is part of the $100 million in grant funding made available for the ReConnect Pilot Program through the CARES Act.

The Trump Administration announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $12.5 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Georgia. This investment is part of the $100 million in grant funding made available for the ReConnect Pilot Program through the CARES Act.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $86 million in rural broadband service for 17,000 people and businesses in eight states. USDA is providing loans to six telecommunications providers to build, expand and improve broadband services in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin. Below are examples of projects that USDA is funding through the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee Program:

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $3.3 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in South Dakota. This investment is part of USDA’s round one investments through the ReConnect Pilot Program. USDA is providing the $3.3 million grant to help SDN Communications deploy fixed wireless broadband in rural areas of Pennington and Lawrence counties in South Dakota. This service area extends across 13 square miles and will provide broadband access to 275 people, 14 businesses and two farms.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that USDA is investing $2 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in New Hampshire. This funding is part of USDA’s round one investments through the ReConnect Pilot Program. USDA is providing a $2 million loan to help Granite State Telephone Inc. build fiber to provide speeds up to 1 gigabyte downstream and 1 gigabyte upstream to rural subscribers in Hillsborough, Sullivan and Cheshire counties in New Hampshire.

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue announced that USDA is investing $71 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Kansas and Oklahoma. This funding is part of USDA’s round one investments through the ReConnect Pilot Program.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $23 million for three recipients in New Mexico to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas. These investments are part of USDA’s round one investments made through the ReConnect Pilot Program. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for ReConnect Pilot Program applications to March 31. “By extending the ReConnect Program application deadline, we are helping even more qualified organizations access the essential funding to make high-speed broadband connectivity a reality for rural communities across America,” USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand said.

As a former teacher, education and its long-reaching benefits are dear to my heart. While joining Deputy Under Secretary Donald “DJ” LaVoy at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia (KY) to announce over $55.3 million in ReConnect funding, I thought of the impact this funding would have on the education of our fellow Kentuckians. While it is true that rural communities stand to benefit from broadband expansion in a number of ways, its ability to help close the very real digital divide between rural and urban America is a shining promise to the future for all Americans.