Broadband Funding Requests Overwhelm Commerce, USDA

Washington, Aug. 28 – Although the broadband initiative contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act only offers $7.2 billion in total funding, nearly $28 billion in requests were submitted via more than 2,200 applications in the program’s first funding round.

The program, funded through the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service, aims to expand broadband access across the country in underserved and unserved areas. The grants will also help create jobs to build the Internet infrastructure. In the first round of ARRA funding, $4 billion will be available, with up to $2.4 billion coming from the RUS and up to $1.6 billion from the NTIA.