The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announced $9 million in grant funding for broadband Internet providers to serve communities in rural America.
The Community Connect Grant Program — created as part of the 2002 Farm Bill to provide funding to connect rural communities with high-speed, high-capacity access to the Internet — is designed for rural areas “where broadband transmission services do not currently exist.”
Eligibility requirements and application guidelines are available online at: www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/commconnect.htm. All applications must be submitted to the RUS by Sept. 13, 2004.
In 2003, Rural Broadband Coalition (RBC) members received approximately 20 percent of the $11.3 million in grant funds available for this program.
RBC, which is a technology and provider-neutral national advocacy and service association, serves Internet service providers, telecommunication companies/utilities, for-profit utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipalities, public utility districts, tribal communities, technology companies, government organizations, associations and other interested parties that are dedicated to supporting the deployment of broadband Internet access to rural America.
