The U.S. Department of the Treasury has announced that four states have been approved to receive $357 million for broadband project through the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
The four states are Kansas, Maine, Maryland and Minnesota. The CPF is a $10 billion program
to fund capital projects in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadband expansion is one of the goals of the program. Many states will undertake projects that combine CPF funding with money from their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) allotments, according to a U.S. Treasury press release.
“The pandemic upended life as we knew it—from work to school to connecting with friends and
family—and exposed the stark inequity in access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet in
communities across the country, but especially in rural, Tribal, and low-income communities,”
U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in the press release. “This funding will lay the foundation for the Biden-Harris Administration’s historic investments to increase access to high-speed internet and reduce broadband bills for American households and businesses.”
All funding recipients are required to participate in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides a discount of as much as $30 per qualifying household per month for broadband — $75 per household on Tribal lands.
The CPF plans approved this week include:
- Kansas was approved for $83.5 million (representing 58% of its available CPF funding). The
project it will connect about 21,300 homes and businesses. The Broadband Acceleration Grant
Program, a competitive grant program, will also be support the project. - Maine was approved for $110 million (representing 86% of its available CPF funding). The
funding will connect about 22,500 homes and businesses. The grant will support the Maine
Infrastructure Ready program to extend existing or create new networks. - Maryland was approved for $95 million (representing 55% of its available CPF funding). It will
connect about 16,667 homes and businesses by supporting the Network Infrastructure Grant
Program, a competitive grant program that will fund large-scale broadband projects by ISPs in
areas lacking service. - Minnesota was approved for $68.4 million (representing 38% of its available CPF funding). The
project will connect about 23,517 homes and businesses by using the funds for its Border-to-
Border Broadband Development Grant Program, a competitive grant program designed to
provide financial resources for new and existing ISPs to invest in building broadband
infrastructure in areas that lack high-speed internet.
In June, the Treasury Department announced that the Capital Projects Fund would support broadband deployment to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in Louisiana, New Hampshire, Virginia and West Virginia. The funding was for about $538 million.
