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U.S. gov't to release $4 billion soon for broadband
Wed Jul 1, 2009 4:22pm EDT
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government will soon release $4 billion of loans and grants aimed at expanding broadband access to underserved areas across the United States, officials said on Wednesday.
The funds are part of a $7.2 billion program to build an affordable high-speed Internet structure in rural areas. The project is being pushed by President Barack Obama, in part, to shore up the U.S. economy with job creation in the telecommunications sector.
"This funding is a down payment on the president's commitment to bring the educational and economic benefits of the Internet to all communities," Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement.
The broadband program was tucked into a $787 billion fiscal stimulus package Obama signed into law in February.
Applications for loans and grants will be accepted starting on July 14 and will continue through August 14. Details of the funding process can be found at www.broadbandusa.gov.
The Commerce and Agriculture departments and the Federal Communications Commission are developing a national broadband program to reach those American households and small businesses lacking what many officials consider a necessary service.
Under the rules announced on Wednesday, the USDA and Commerce will review applications, announce a group of finalists on Sept 15 and start naming winners on November 7, senior administration officials said.
Of the $4 billion to be released soon, $1.6 billion of grants will be administered by Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and $2.4 billion of grants and loans by the USDA's Rural Utilities Service.
The grants and loans will be released in three tranches, they said.
Under the rules the minimum Internet speed an applicant can provide is 768 kilobits per second (kbps) downstream, considered slow by some standards, and at least 200 kbps upstream to end users.
However, due to likely competition, officials said they expect applicants to offer higher speeds. They also said that applicants that offer more benefits such as higher speeds will score higher in the review process.
"We're expecting to see a large number of applicants," an official said during a briefing with reporters.
Of the $7.2 billion in the broadband program, Commerce will spend $4.7 billion and USDA will spend $2.5 billion.
(Reporting by John Poirier; Editing by Derek Caney and Steve Orlofsky)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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