Rural areas to get grants for high-speed internet
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Agriculture Department announced Thursday it is making available $759 million in grants and loans to enable rural communities to access high-speed internet, part of the broader $65 billion push for high-speed connectivity from last year’s infrastructure law.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and White House senior adviser Mitch Landrieu unveiled the grants during a visit to North Carolina.
There are 49 recipients in 24 states. South Dakota received $16,957,883 and it will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 488 people, 88 farms and seven businesses to high-speed internet in Corson and Dewey Counties. Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone will make high-speed internet affordable by participating in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity and Lifeline programs.
The South Dakota project will serve socially vulnerable communities in Corson and Dewey Counties, and on the Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations.
“Rural America needs this,” Vilsack said. “Rural America deserves this.” He made the announcement, noting that rural areas tend to be where the electricity for cities is generated and where city dwellers and suburbanites go for vacations.
Landrieu, the infrastructure coordinator and former New Orleans mayor, told reporters on a Wednesday call that the Biden administration has already released $180 billion for various infrastructure projects.
The administration is specifically targeting support for small towns and farm communities.
“Rural communities are the backbone of our nation, but for too long they’ve been left behind and they have been underrecognized,” Landrieu said. “We all know how essential the internet is in order to access lifesaving telemedicine, to tap into economic opportunity, to connect with loved ones, to work on precision agriculture and so much more. That’s just beyond unacceptable that that’s not available to rural America.”
Vilsack said that past trips show how broadband connectivity is starting to make a difference. While in Nevada this summer, he heard from people in the town of Lovelock who plan to use the improved internet to enhance their emergency responder services and tourism opportunities as well as help high school students who are earning college credit online.
