July 1, President Obama’s administration kicked off a summer long listening tour of rural America in Wattsburg, Pa. This first stop included a discussion of rural broadband service. For Associated Press story, click here. The stop included Vice-President Biden, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. At the first stop, Vice-President Biden announced a loan and grant program to develop the infrastructure necessary to bring broadband to rural areas. For Associated Press story, click here.
According to a press release from the USDA,
the availability of $4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loans and grants to help bring broadband service to un-served and underserved communities across America. This is the first round of Recovery Act funding aimed at expanding broadband access to help bridge the technological divide and create jobs building out Internet infrastructure.To view the press release, click here. The stimulus bill provided $7.2 billion to accelerate the development of broadband in underserved areas of the country. Of that $7.2 billion, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in the Commerce Department,
will utilize $4.7 billion to deploy broadband infrastructure in un-served and underserved areas in the United States, expand public computer center capacity and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), in the USDA,
will invest $2.5 billion to facilitate broadband deployment in rural communities.These initial loans and grants will be awarded by NTIA and RUS. The agencies will accept applications from July 14 to 5:00 PM on August 14, 2009. For more details please view www.broadbandusa.gov.
This nation-wide Rural American tour will continue on July 16 in La Crosse, Wisconsin and conclude on September 30 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. All stops on the tour include Secretary Vilsack with other cabinet officials discussing a variety of rural issues important to rural America. For more details on the tour stops, click here to view a Washington Post column by Ed O’Keefe.
Posted: 07/01/09
