The U.S. government announced today it would soon release $4 billion in loans and grants to help bring broadband service to rural communities across America.

This is the first round of Recovery Act funding aimed at expanding broadband access to help bridge the technological gap and create jobs building out Internet infrastructure.

“Today’s announcement is a first step toward realizing President Obama’s vision of a nationwide 21st-century communications infrastructure - one that encourages economic growth, enhances America’s global competitiveness and helps address many of America’s most pressing challenges,” said Vice President Biden.

The Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to speed broadband deployment in areas of the country that have been without the high-speed infrastructure.

Of that funding, NTIA will use $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. RUS will invest $2.5 billion to facilitate broadband deployment in rural communities.

NTIA and RUS will be accepting applications for loans, grants and loan/grant combinations to be given by each agency under a single application form. The complete details are available here.

Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 4:02 pm. Permalink