PCCA Journal|2
nd
Quarter 2013
33
USDA Announces Broadband Funding
O
n May 1, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack an-
nounced funding for two rural telecommunications
companies that will expand broadband service in
rural Nebraska and Montana. The Agriculture Department
will provide more than $26 million from its Rural Utilities
Service to install fiber networks to improve telecommunica-
tions services in these areas.
“These loans will provide the necessary telecommunica-
tions services essential for rural economic development,”
Vilsack said. “Broadband offers rural communities greater ac-
cess to educational, health care, business and social services
and opens the door to increased global competition.”
InterBel Telephone Cooperative, Inc., in Montana, will
receive a $20.8 million loan to complete a fiber-to-the-prem-
ises network to help meet future growth requirements. In
Nebraska, Hartington Telecommunications Co., Inc., will use
a $5.2 million loan to replace copper with fiber-to-the-home
technology. USDA funding is contingent upon the recipient
meeting the terms of the loan agreement.
USDA Announces New Rules
to Fund Broadband Service
O
n May 3, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced
new rules to better target Community Connect
broadband grants to areas where they are needed
the most. The USDA said it remains focused on carrying out
its mission, despite a time of significant budget uncertainty.
USDA Rural Development’s Community Connect Grant pro-
gram serves rural communities where broadband service is
least likely to be available, but where it can make a tremen-
dous difference in the quality of life for citizens.
The changes:
• Simplify the application process by requiring a single proj-
ect summary and map.
• Allow grant applicants to use a USDA web-based mapping
tool to define their proposed service area. The old rules
did not accommodate some of the most rural communities,
which often are not Census-designated places or were not
recognized by a commercial atlas.
• Give grant applicants more flexibility on the monetary con-
tributions that can be used to meet the 15 percent match-
ing fund requirement.
• Allow USDA to consider giving funding priority to projects
in persistent poverty counties, communities experiencing
population declines, and the most rural areas.
USDA’s Rural Utilities Service plans to publish information
on Community Connect funding opportunities, including ap-
plication deadlines and the amount of assistance available, in
the
Federal ReGISter
soon.
Since its inception, the Community Connect program has
funded 229 projects with USDA investments of $122 million.
In 2012, USDA assistance led to improved broadband service
nationwide for nearly 65,000 rural households, businesses,
and community institutions, such as libraries, schools, and
first responders.
House Establishes Bipartisan Group
to Promote Rural Telecom Issues
R
eps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Bob Latta (R-Ohio)
announced in April the formation of a bipartisan
working group of Energy and Commerce Committee
members that will work to promote rural telecommunication
issues within the committee. The 18-member group—split
evenly between Republicans and Democrats—was founded
by Welch and Latta.
“The challenges facing rural Americans, especially in the
area of telecommunications, cut across party lines,” Welch
and Latta said. “From broadband access and spectrum issues
to problems with call completion, rural areas of our districts
often have unique concerns. This bipartisan working group
will serve as a forum to educate committee members on rural
issues to ensure that rural priorities are understood and ad-
dressed in the important work of this committee.”
The Rural Telecommunications Working Group will provide
a forum for committee members to learn more about how
telecommunications issues in the committee’s jurisdiction
impact rural communities. The working group will meet to
highlight issues such as call completion, spectrum auctions,
broadband access, and broadband speed.
In addition to co-chairs Welch and Latta, members of the
working group include John Barrow (D-Ga.), Adam Kinz-
inger (R-Ill.), Bruce Braley (D-Iowa), Lee Terry (R-Neb.), G.K.
Butterfield (D-N.C.), H. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Lois Capps
(D-Calif.), Billy Long (R-Mo.), Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.Mex.),
Corey Gardner (R-Colo.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Renee Ellm-
ers (R-N.C.), Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.), Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.),
Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
RDUP News
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