U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration recently announced more than $930 million to expand and strengthen the nation's high-speed internet.
Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced the $930,021,354.34 will be spent to expand middle mile high-speed Internet infrastructure in 35 states and Puerto Rico as part of the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, according to a June 16 news release. The money is part of President Joe Biden's Investing in America agenda.
"Access to Internet is no longer a luxury and thanks to President Biden's leadership, we are taking action to close the digital divide for everyone in America," Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in the news release. "The Middle Mile program will invest more than $900 million in the infrastructure needed to connect communities, military bases and Tribal lands to the Internet, lower the cost of access and increase bandwidth.
Middle mile Internet infrastructure is built to carry large amounts of data over great distances, increase local network capacity, boost network resilience, lower costs associated with bringing high-speed Internet to unconnected households and help to extend the Internet backbone to unserved regions, the release reported.
Program funds will pay for the construction, improvement or acquisition of middle mile infrastructure, including administrative costs, and does not directly connect end-users, the release said. This funding is expected to pay for middle mile infrastructure in more than 350 counties, deploy 12,000 miles of fiber passing near 6,961 community anchor institutions and provide for future-proof fiber technology.
"Much like how the interstate highway system connected every community in America to regional and national systems of highways, this program will help us connect communities across the country to regional and national networks that provide quality, affordable high-speed Internet access," Raimondo added, according to the release.
Grants range from $2.7 million to $88.8 million, the release reported. The initiative aligns with the Biden Administration's goal of connecting all communities to high-speed Internet and rebuilding the economy through infrastructure investment.
Awardees are expected to invest an additional $848.46 million, the release said.
The application process involved a thorough review and more than 260 applications totaling $7.47 billion in funding requests were submitted, according to the release.
