Paul Hammel

Advocates for rural Nebraska and telecommunications companies are expressing disappointment and some condemnation over the decision to propose spending only $43.8 million of the $405 million in federal money awarded to the state to expand high-speed internet “for all.” These “provisional” awards by the Nebraska Broadband Office that Gov Jim Pillen (R-NE) created raise the prospect that $350 million in unspent funds awarded to the state under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program could be returned to Washington (DC), and not spent in the state.

County officials and advocates for rural development cried foul over recent changes in a federal initiative to expand access to high-speed internet, saying they will force thousands in rural Nebraska to settle for second-rate broadband. County Commissioner Misty Ahmic of Milford was part of a county task force dedicated to bringing high-speed internet to so-called “dark territories” in the county.