U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced nearly $700 million in grants and loans to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 22 states and the Marshall Islands to reliable, affordable high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This program is uniquely designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are the most rural, remote and unserved communities. …
Today’s high-speed internet investments are part of the fourth funding round of the ReConnect Program. Many residents and businesses in rural areas would not have high-speed internet service without the ReConnect Program, as the program is a key part of the Administration’s Internet for All initiative to connect everyone in America to high-speed internet by 2030. Today’s announcement includes $667 million in USDA investments in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the Marshall Islands.
Lismore Cooperative received an award to deploy broadband in Nobles County…
ReConnect Loan and Grant Combination
Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company
grant: $13,688,114
loan: $5,723,996This Rural Development investment will be used to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to provide high[1]speed internet. This network will benefit 3,839 people, 127 businesses, 679 farms and one educational facility in Nobles County in Minnesota. Lismore Cooperative Telephone Company will make high-speed internet affordable by participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline and Affordable Connectivity Programs.