More Rural Internet

More Rural Internet

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
"If you ask someone in rural America -- whether they have broadband access that meets the speeds 'as defined by the Federal Communications Commission,' they likely don't know.

"If you ask them whether they get internet access to match their needs, they can probably give you a quick yes or no answer.  That should be our primary objective as policy makers looking to allocate federal resources -- accounting for consumer demand, putting the consumer first, and getting the most people the best access to a productive level of internet service. People in the most remote parts of our country, including in Oregon and other unserved parts of our country, would tell you they'd be happy to just have a connection. Some of them do not have that today. That is the importance of the work we are doing moving forward -- to figure out how we connect the unconnected. They should not be left behind in America. Whether if you're in Montana, Wyoming, or Oregon, or North Dakota, or in urban settings where there are issues as well. This is really important that we have this discussion about mapping.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy today announced that USDA is investing $152 million in 19 projects (PDF, 121 KB) to provide or improve rural broadband service in 14 states.

In April 2017, President Donald J. Trump established the Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity to identify legislative, regulatory and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. In January 2018, Secretary Perdue presented the Task Force’s findings to President Trump. These findings included 31 recommendations to align the federal government with state, local and tribal governments to take advantage of opportunities that exist in rural America. Increasing investments in rural infrastructure is a cornerstone recommendation of the task force.

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