Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says USDA is investing $63 million to bring high-speed internet access to people living and working in rural areas of Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, and Mississippi.
“Investing in high-speed internet is a fundamental part of our partnership with rural communities,” he says.
“Connecting rural Americans with reliable internet brings new and innovative ideas to the rest of our country.”
The $63 million in grants comes from the third round of funding under the ReConnect Program, in which USDA has invested a total of $1.7 billion. Since the program’s beginning, the agency has invested $3.2 billion to bring high-speed internet access to people in rural communities.
The funds will be used for one project in each of the four states. To be eligible for ReConnect Program funding, an applicant must serve an area that lacks access to service speeds of 100 megabits per second downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads.