internet

A bipartisan group of Senators recently introduced legislation to merge USDA broadband programs.  New Mexico Democrat Ben Ray Luján and South Dakota Republican John Thune reintroduced the Rural Internet Improvement Act.  The legislation would streamline and bolster USDA Rural Development broadband programs and ensure their funding is targeted to rural areas that need it the most.     "Our bip

National Farmers Union welcomed last week’s Affordability Connectivity Program announced by the White House. The program seeks to close the U.S. digital divide by making reliable, high-speed internet affordable to many families in rural and urban communities. The ...

The Biden administration official charged with coordinating the implementation of the massive bipartisan infrastructure bill, Mitch Landriue, said besides proving roads, bridges and rural electric grids and such, that bill has resources for another major goal: "Providing high speed internet to every home, every business so that rural community specifically can stay connected to jobs, precisio

A new broadband mapping tool released by the White House last week shows the need for rural broadband. The Indicators of Broadband Need Map indicates areas of need by marking them red. The tool unsurprisingly marks much of the U.S. land area, particularly rural areas, as in need of broadband ...

Federal Communications Commission Chair Ajit Pai will step down January 20, the day President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in. Pai was appointed to the commission in 2012 by President Barack Obama, and made chairman by President Donald Trump in 2017 ...

Senate Ag Committee Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow is leading a group of Democrats in releasing a report on the impact of COVID-19 in rural America. The report was put together by the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, which Stabenow chairs ...

Last week, Senator Ron Wyden announced he will reintroduce the Community Broadband Act to improve internet access in underserved communities. Oregon’s senior senator says the proposal is even more important during the coronavirus pandemic as millions of students and families find themselves struggling to learn and work remotely. ...

Many in the farming community consider high-speed broadband, specifically in rural areas, a once-every-half-century milestone.A Strategic Communications Consultant Bob Knight agrees. "You think what the railroads did for our country when they were formed, it moved people and goods coast to coast ... Read More ...

It’s a push the FCC and USDA have promoted for years, connecting rural America up to broadband service, allowing producers and others in small towns or wide open locations to compete on the international market.  However, a study released last week by Broadband Now Research shows the number of Americans without broadband is moving in the wrong direction.  The stud...

USDA and the FCC are working to get broadband service to Americans across the country.  But the number of Americans without internet service at all may surprise you.   A report issued by BroadbandNow Research says the number of Americans that are without internet service is 43 million.  That’s ...