The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package passed in the Senate last week has $65 billion available for rural broadband investments. The Rural Broadband Association Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield says $42.5 billion of that will go towards broadband distribution. “That’s deployment for those completely unserved and it will tier up to underserved. Every state under this will be guaranteed $100 million in grant support as the baseline. The rest of the money will be competitive. That way, we don’t have smaller states or larger states taking up all of the funding.” Bloomfield says this package allows the emergency broadband program from the FCC to continue and become permanent. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says some of the additional resources available with the money may be issued in grants and loans. “The $65 billion is one number, but it will lead to a larger investment.”
