In an effort to deliver high-speed Internet service to communities left unserved or underserved by existing providers, the federal government allocated more than $7 billion for new broadband projects in last year’s economic stimulus bill.
The agencies overseeing those funds announced a major new wave of grants and loans totaling nearly $1 billion to cover some 66 new broadband projects. IT Channel Planet has the details.
The U.S. Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have released $795 million — augmented by some $200 million in private investments — to underwrite grants and loans for 66 projects nationwide aimed at extending broadband Internet access to businesses, healthcare facilities and schools in underserved communities.
The government said that the funding, the second round of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), is part of the overall $7.2 billion designated for broadband expansion nationwide, $4.7 billion of which comes through the Commerce Department and $2.5 billion from the Department of Agriculture.