Why the Agriculture Department is giving out tens of millions of dollars for Internet access

[Commentary] You've probably never heard of La Valle (WI), a town of about 1,300 people in southwest Wisconsin. La Valle, like many rural communities in America, have been passed over by the country's major communications providers, leaving the small town to fend for itself. And it has done so tremendously: Residents can buy fiber-optic Internet from the customer-owned LaValle Telephone Cooperative at speeds of up to 60 megabits per second -- fast enough to rival the connections many Americans enjoy elsewhere. The co-op will be getting a $7.61 million loan from the federal government, part of a package announced that will deliver $85 million in new funding nationwide for rural Internet access.

You might think that the money is coming from some telecommunications-related agency like the Federal Communications Commission. It's not. Instead, it's coming from a surprising source: the US Department of Agriculture. "We're trying to live up to the president's commitment on [broadband]," said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. "Focus on the areas that don't have it today or on those who don't have many telecom facilities at all. People are surprised we do home loans," Sec Vilsack added. "People are surprised we build schools and hospitals, and that we equip them." But despite its lower profile on broadband, the USDA, along with other federal agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development, are taking on a bigger role in expanding Internet access. That seemingly random agencies are becoming increasingly involved in Internet access is a reflection of how unevenly broadband access is distributed in the United States.