Telecommunications Projects To Deliver Broadband and Job Opportunities to Rural Communities

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that rural telecommunications companies have been selected to receive nearly $192 million in loans for projects that will deliver broadband services to rural customers across eight states.

These funds represent the latest investment from The Department of Agriculture's Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program and will add thousands of miles of cable to the telecommunications grid in rural America. The announcement was made by Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein on Vilsack's behalf at the summer meeting of the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunication Companies in Minneapolis. Administered by USDA Rural Development's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), this financing is part of the $690 million investment during fiscal year 2011 and is in addition to the $3.5 billion in broadband funding RUS awarded for projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The telecommunications infrastructure program funds facilities and equipment to upgrade, expand, maintain and replace rural telecommunications networks.