Current:Home > ScamsBiden administration announces more new funding for rural broadband infrastructure-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Biden administration announces more new funding for rural broadband infrastructure
View Date:2024-12-23 20:23:51
The Biden administration on Monday continued its push toward internet-for-all by 2030, announcing about $667 million in new grants and loans to build more broadband infrastructure in the rural U.S.
“With this investment, we’re getting funding to communities in every corner of the country because we believe that no kid should have to sit in the back of a mama’s car in a McDonald’s parking lot in order to do homework,” said Mitch Landrieu, the White House’s infrastructure coordinator, in a call with reporters.
The 37 new recipients represent the fourth round of funding under the program, dubbed ReConnect by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Another 37 projects received $771.4 million in grants and loans announced in April and June.
The money flowing through federal broadband programs, including what was announced Monday and the $42.5 billion infrastructure program detailed earlier this summer, will lead to a new variation on “the electrification of rural America,” Landrieu said, repeating a common Biden administration refrain.
The largest award went to the Ponderosa Telephone Co. in California, which received more than $42 million to deploy fiber networks in Fresno County. In total, more than 1,200 people, 12 farms and 26 other businesses will benefit from that effort alone, according to USDA.
The telephone cooperatives, counties and telecommunications companies that won the new awards are based in 22 states and the Marshall Islands.
At least half of the households in areas receiving the new funding lack access to internet speeds of 100 megabits per second download and 20 Mbps upload — what the federal government considers “underserved” in broadband terminology. The recipients’ mandate is to build networks that raise those levels to at least 100 Mbps upload and 100 Mbps download speeds for every household, business and farm in their service areas.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the investments could bring new economic opportunities to farmers, allow people without close access to medical care to see specialist doctors through telemedicine and increase academic offerings, including Advanced Placement courses in high schools.
“The fact that this administration understands and appreciates the need for continued investment in rural America to create more opportunity is something that I’m really excited about,” Vilsack said on the media call.
___
Harjai, who reported from Los Angeles, is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
veryGood! (9521)
Related
- Former North Carolina labor commissioner becomes hospital group’s CEO
- Come and Get a Look at Our List of Selena Gomez's Best Songs
- Satellite Photos Show Louisiana Coast Is Still Dealing With Major Flooding Post-Ida
- Kids Born Today Could Face Up To 7 Times More Climate Disasters
- Brian Kelly asks question we're all wondering after Alabama whips LSU, but how to answer?
- Jon Stewart Makes Surprise Return to The Daily Show Nearly 8 Years After Signing Off
- See Kane Brown Make His Blazing Hot Acting Debut in Fire Country Sneak Peek
- Come and Get a Look at Our List of Selena Gomez's Best Songs
- The NBA Cup is here. We ranked the best group stage games each night
- Summertime And Vacationing Isn't Easy. Blame It On Climate Change
Ranking
- Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
- The Masked Singer: Heavy Metal Legend Gets Unmasked as The Doll
- The MTV Movie & TV Awards 2023 Nominations Are Finally Here
- Entergy Resisted Upgrading New Orleans' Power Grid. Residents Paid The Price
- DWTS' Sasha Farber Claps Back at Diss From Jenn Tran's Ex Devin Strader
- How Marlon Wayans Is Healing Days After His Dad Howell Wayans' Death
- Western States Face Water Cuts As A Shortage In The Colorado River Is Declared
- Myanmar says it burned nearly half-billion dollars in seized illegal drugs
Recommendation
-
Quincy Jones laid to rest at private family funeral in Los Angeles
-
Protesters say school kids swung dead cats to mock them at New Zealand feral animal hunt weigh-in
-
Water is scarce in California. But farmers have found ways to store it underground
-
See Austin Butler and Kaia Gerber’s Sweet PDA Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
-
Dallas Long, who won 2 Olympic medals while dominating the shot put in the 1960s, has died at 84
-
New protections for California's aquifers are reshaping the state's Central Valley
-
How Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Honors Olivia Newton-John's Beauty Legacy
-
Goodbye, Climate Jargon. Hello, Simplicity!