The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on 21 August the latest tranche of grants and loans under the ReConnect Program worth USD667 million, funded via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners in 22 US states and the Marshall Islands to reliable, affordable high speed internet. The investments are part of the fourth funding round of the ReConnect Program designed to support ‘the most difficult high speed internet projects’ in rural, remote and unserved communities.
Representing a key contribution to the federal ‘Internet for All’ initiative to connect the entire US to high speed internet by 2030, the latest USDA announcement covers new 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.
[Note: the Marshall Islands gained independence from the US in 1986 but the Pacific nation maintains close links with the superpower; in January 2023 a new Memorandum of Understanding was signed regarding continued US assistance to the small Republic.]