The Federal Communications Commission on Monday revealed an extra $67 million in yearly assistance to bring better broadband service to rural America.
The cash is meant to assist rural broadband suppliers provide better service to almost 110,000 houses in rural neighborhoods in 43 states, the FCC stated Monday. Under the FCC’s standards, rural consumers would see their download speeds increase to a minimum of 25 Mbps and uploads to 3 Mbps.
Today, 34 million Americans do not have a budget-friendly and trustworthy broadband connection. Of these, 19.4 million reside in backwoods, according to a report from the FCC utilizing 2016 figures.Â
The federal government has actually made rural broadband a top priority, with loans and grants dispersed by the FCC and the United States Department of Agriculture. The FCC strategies to disperse approximately $1.98 billion over 10 years as part of its Connect America Fund Phase II. Last year, Congress assigned $600 million to the United States Department of Agriculture for a brand-new broadband pilot program, though the USDA hasn’t yet chose the specifications for dispersing the cash.
“The Connect America Fund is key to this effort, providing funding in sparsely populated rural areas where the cost of providing and deploying service can be high,” the FCC stated in a declaration.
