Individuals who primarily Reside in a Rural Area

The Senate Committee on Appropriations approved, on a 28-0 vote, the fiscal year 2024 Agriculture bill. The committee provides $98 million for the ReConnect program at the Department of Agriculture. The committee again reminds USDA that funding should not be used in areas that are already largely served and should be focused in areas where at least 90% of households lack access. In doing so, the committee intends that USDA

Since Phase I of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) concluded, it has become more expensive to deploy broadband due to rampant increases in construction materials, equipment, and labor costs. Given the challenges, RDOF winners—especially smaller providers—are facing, we appreciate your review of the following options:

Satellite internet competitors OneWeb and SpaceX are in the running to reconnect Alaskans after ice damaged a sub-sea fiber-optic cable in the Arctic Ocean. While repairs are expected to take an additional six to eight weeks, satellites could help locals weather the widespread outage.

The US Department of the Treasury approved $195.7 million for high-speed internet projects in Washington state from the Capital Projects Fund (CPF).

The future of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is now at risk. Civil rights organizations have partnered with Congress, the Biden administration, internet service providers, and other stakeholders to spread the word about the ACP so that those who need it most are informed and can get connected. But the future of the ACP is not guaranteed. Congress needs to step up again and ensure adequate funding to continue the program.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) testified on the importance of satellite connectivity before the House Committee on Agriculture hearing titled “Closing the Digital Divide in Rural America.” SIA President Tom Stroup provided testimony on behalf of the Association. “Americans without high-speed internet access are slipping further behind as more and more aspects of American society are conducted online… and too many communities are on the wrong side of the divide,” said Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-PA).

WISPA’s President and CEO David Zumwalt commended the House Agriculture Committee and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for their work in closing the rural digital divide, and offered numerous suggestions on how the 2023 Farm Bill may more effectively narrow the broadband gap, in testimony today before the full Committee. WISPA represents the wireless internet service provider (WISP) industry.

Electric cooperatives need Congress to improve critical broadband programs to bring high-speed internet service to rural America, said NRECA CEO Jim Matheson. More than 200 electric co-ops across the US are deploying broadband or developing plans to do so. Matheson asked the committee to make key improvements to broadband programs at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) as it develops the Farm Bill:

Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture on NTCA’s broadband priorities for the 2023 Farm Bill.

Six representatives from the broadband and satellite industries testified at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on the digital divide, or the lack of some digital services in rural America. Committee Ranking Member David Scott (D-GA) asked the witnesses if the Department of Agriculture (USDA) was the right agency to handle the issue of rural broadband. “They know rural America. They prioritize issues that matter in rural America in their broadband funding in terms of rurality or low population density. That’s one of the criteria they look at.