The USDA announced $502 million in USDA ReConnect awards this morning and at a pre-briefing with media yesterday, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the balance of awards in Round 3 of the program will be announced soon. In addition, Vilsack…
USDA
USDA ReConnect Round 4 Application Window Open
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has begun accepting applications this week for $1.15 billion it is making available in Round 4 of the ReConnect Program funding. The funding pool consists of $150 million in loans, $700 million in grants and…
USDA to Begin Accepting ReConnect Round 4 Applications September 6
Rules for Round 4 of the USDA ReConnect rural broadband funding program are scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday. According to an “unpublished” version of the rules available on the Federal Register site, USDA will accept…
USDA Awards $401 Million for Rural Fiber Broadband
The USDA announced $401 million in rural broadband funding awards, primarily through the ReConnect program. Included in the funding was one award in the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan and Loan Guarantee program. The awards will go to 21 companies for deployments…
GAO Identifies Over 100 Federal Broadband Programs, Urges Better Coordination
Broadband programs administered by different federal agencies should be better coordinated with each other, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. Telecompetitor readers will be familiar with the big three broadband funding agencies – the FCC, USDA…
USDA Extends to March 9 the Application Deadline for ReConnect Program Funding
Feb 17, 2022 – Washington – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small today announced the Department is extending to March 9, 2022, the application deadline for funding to expand access to high-speed internet for…
Connect Unserved Americans Act Aims to Prevent Overbuilding
The Connect Unserved Americans Act introduced in the Senate yesterday aims to target government broadband funding to areas lacking service today and to prevent the use of the funding to overbuild existing broadband infrastructure. The bill was introduced by Senators…
Lumen Awarded Major USDA Contract
Lumen Technologies has received a task order from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to deliver a fully integrated wide area data transport service. The contract includes secure remote access, and contact center and cloud connectivity solutions to more than…
The Absurdity of Broadband …the Official Speed Definition That Is
It’s an exciting time in the broadband industry. If you think it’s interesting and busy now, just wait. The next five years or so will take it up a few notches, to say the least. In the midst of this…
USDA Starts Accepting ReConnect Rural Broadband Funding Applications
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is now accepting applications for ReConnect funding to cover some of the costs of deploying broadband to unserved or underserved rural areas. This round of the ReConnect program has a budget of $1.15 billion,…
Infrastructure Bill Passes with $65 Billion for Broadband
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which has been referred to as the Senate infrastructure bill since it passed the Senate in August, has also been adopted by the House and merely awaits President Biden’s signature before becoming…
Hilliary Communications to Launch $45M Fiber Expansion
Oklahoma City, Okla. (Oct. 26, 2021) – Hilliary Communications announced today that it will be investing more than $45 million in rural America to expand affordable, high-powered fiber optic internet where traditional bank loans and infrastructure programs are not readily…
