Arkansas Telephone Company Inc. of Clinton has been awarded a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant of almost $12 million to provide high-speed internet access in Searcy and Van Buren counties.
"This Rural Development investment will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 986 people, 10 businesses and 145 farms to high-speed internet in Searcy and Van Buren counties," according to a list of the grants.
"The company will make high-speed internet affordable by offering low-cost starter packages with voice and voice/data. Discounts will be offered to those who participate in the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Programs."
The $11,915,475 Arkansas grant was one of 20 grants and loans announced today as part of the USDA's Rural Development ReConnect round 3 funding, which amounted to about $401 million.
In October, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that on Nov. 24 the USDA would begin accepting applications for up to $1.15 billion in loans and grants to expand the availability of broadband in rural areas. USDA was making the funding available through the ReConnect Program.
"To be eligible for ReConnect Program funding, an applicant must serve an area without broadband service at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) (download) and 20 Mbps (upload), and commit to building facilities capable of providing broadband service at speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in its proposed service area," according to an October news release from the USDA.
"In making funding decisions, USDA will prioritize projects that will serve low-density rural areas with locations lacking internet access services at speeds of at least 25 Mbps (download) and 3 Mbps (upload)," according to the release.
"In making funding decisions, the USDA will also consider, among other things, the economic needs of the community to be served; the extent which a provider will offer affordable service options; a project's commitment to strong labor standards; and whether a project is serving tribal lands or is submitted by a local government, Tribal Government, non-profit or cooperative."
Late Wednesday afternoon, Vilsack held a press briefing with White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. Information provided in the briefing was embargoed until today.
"This is a tremendous opportunity for us over the course of the next several months to roll out over a billion dollars in investment in connecting people to a better and more wired future," said Vilsack.
"For decades, all of us have talked about infrastructure," said Landrieu. "President Biden has worked across the aisle to bring people together to actually get it done. And now, we're going to have infrastructure for decades."
Landrieu said Biden insisted that infrastructure funding reach rural communities.
"Rural communities are the backbone of our nation and have a broad impact on our economy, but for too long rural communities have been left out and left behind and under-recognized for their contributions," said Landrieu. "We're changing that. And it starts with making sure our rural communities are connected to affordable, reliable high-speed internet."
"During this pandemic, it's been made clearer than ever that affordable, high-speed internet is vital to work, to learn, to compete in a 21st century economy," said Landrieu. "Put simply, high-speed internet will level the playing field across America, from Nevada to New Mexico to Arizona to Arkansas, and everywhere in between, when rural communities succeed, we all succeed."
Cortez Masto said she was particularly excited about the $27.1 million that would go to improve broadband access in rural Lovelock, Nev.