For Immediate Release
Contact: Laura Withers, 703-351-2087, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (November 13, 2018)—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced nine NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association member companies will receive millions of dollars in loans and grants under the agency’s programs to improve connectivity in rural communities and close the digital divide. The loans and grants will be used to build network infrastructure that will deliver robust broadband access to rural communities in several states.
“Small, rural providers have proven time and again that they are highly committed and capable of building and sustaining broadband infrastructure in our country’s most sparsely populated and hardest-to-serve areas,” said NTCA Chief Executive Officer Shirley Bloomfield. “I’m gratified once again to see NTCA members step up to connect more consumers in rural America, and to see how programs like USDA’s telecommunications loans and grants can be leveraged to bridge connectivity gaps for thousands of households and businesses. These are precisely the kinds of public-private partnerships our country needs to promote broadband investments and affordable services in rural communities.”
USDA is investing $91 million through its telecommunications programs and indicates the 19 awards will benefit more than 27,000 businesses and households in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia.
Details on the new loans and grants can be found here.
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of transformative technological advancements, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are leading the technological evolution for rural consumers, delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Visit us at www.ntca.org.