ReConnect Loan and Grant Program

It’s my understanding that the annual Agriculture Reauthorization Bill includes new money for the ReConnect grant program that is administered by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), which is part of the Department of Agriculture. The ReConnect grants only fund areas that are remote and include a test that gives priorities to grant areas that are the farthest distance from towns and cities. There have been changes in the broadband industry that have made it harder each year to define a ReConnect grant area. The RUS grant rules favor grant requests that cover large contiguous areas.

In the past five years, FOCUS Broadband has gone from deploying fiber connectivity to just two North Carolina counties to eight, nearly doubling its number of customers from 36,000 to 63,000.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) was awarded a $35 million grant to install affordable, reliable high-speed fiber broadband in the three underserved TCC village communities of Venetie, Chalkyitsik, and Circle (AK). The project is part of the Alaska FiberOptic Project, which is a larger collaboration between Calista Corporation; Doyon, Limited; Gana-A ‘Yoo Limited; Tanana Chiefs Conference; and Alaska Communications to connect more than 20 communities in the Yukon and Kuskokwim regions, beginning in Fairbanks and extending to the

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) made $714 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 19 states to reliable, affordable high-speed internet.

Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Ted Budd (R-NC) introduced the Connecting Our Neighbors to Networks and Ensuring Competitive Telecommunications (CONNECT) Act of 2023 to reform the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect Loan and Grant Program.

Five providers that offer service in eastern North Dakota broke ground simultaneously on fiber projects funded, in part, through state and federal broadband programs.

Fastwyre Broadband is aiming to expand fiber access in Western Alaska, with the help of two new US Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants totaling nearly $70 million. The funds came from the USDA’s recent round of ReConnect Round Four awards, in which the agency dished out $714 million to cover 33 buildouts in 19 states. In Fastwyre’s case, it’s using the money to deliver fiber to around 3,000 people and 75 businesses in several communities across Alaska’s Nome Census 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

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.