RUS Hands Out $150 Million in Broadband Grants

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The USDA's Rural Utilities Service said Tuesday (March 23)
it has handed out another $150 million in broadband grants and loans for 12
projects in eight states.

Winning bidders will pony up $68 billion of their own in
matching funds--a requirement of the stimulus funding--making the total
investment $218.2 million.

The states getting the money are Alaska,
Arizona, Illinois,
Kansas, Minnesota,
North Dakota, Oklahoma
and Texas.
The projects range from middle-mile funding in Alaska
to new WiMAX access points in central Minnesota
to fiber-to-the home and fixed wireless to an Arizona reservation.

RUS has so far given out $1.05 billion to projects in 30
states (and one territory).

The grants and loans are part of the $7.2 billion in
stimulus funds set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan (ARRP).

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.