On December 17th Vice President Biden kicked off $7.2 billion in Recovery Act broadband grant and loan programs, of which $2 billion will be made available on a rolling basis over the next 75 days to bring high-speed Internet to communities that currently have little or no access to the technology. An initial $183 million investment in eighteen broadband projects benefiting seventeen states which have already been matched by over $46 million in public and private sector capital was also announced.
The projects receiving funds are the first in the $7.2 billion program – $4.7 billion through the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and $2.5 through the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) – being implemented under the Recovery Act to expand broadband access and adoption across the country
.
Four different types of awards were made:
· Middle Mile Awards – $121.6 million to build and improve connections to communities lacking sufficient broadband access.
· Last Mile Awards – $51.4 million to connect end users like homes, hospitals and schools to their community’s broadband infrastructure (the middle mile).
· Public Computing – $7.3 million to expand computer center capacity for public use in libraries, community colleges and other public venues.
· Sustainable Adoption – $2.4 million to fund innovative projects that promote broadband demand with population groups where the technology has traditionally been underutilized.
More information can be found by visiting: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?contentidonly=true&contentid=2009/12/0621.xml.