Over the last year the US government has been taking steps to make rural broadband a priority. Now the President, as part of a new spending plan announced on Monday, said the US government will invest an estimated $50 billion in rural internet infrastructure.
“[T]he rural folks have been left out, including broadband Internet access, which they don’t have,” President Trump said Monday.
“[I]t’s been very unfair what’s happened with broadband in terms of the Midwest and in terms, really, of rural areas, as you know,” the President said. “And you, sort of, were a victim of it, too. But now it’s going to be taken care of. We’re spending a great deal of money on that. It’s only fair. And they want it. They want it. They know how to use it. They want it. And we’re going to get it.”
This comes as the FCC has been making it easier for new companies to run fiber and several Senate bills are pushing new laws to speed up the roll out of rural broadband.
The $50 billion is on top of $2 billion already committed by the FCC. That first $2 billion will start to be rolled out this summer as companies bid on deals to upgrade rural networks.
For now, it looks like the FCC, Congress, and the White House are all pushing for an expansion of rural broadband.
Source: MultiChannel News
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