Agencies Say They’ll Be Ready to Distribute Broadband Funds
A day after the White House and a bipartisan group of Senators came to an agreement on a major infrastructure proposal, three federal agencies began laying the groundwork for distributing the $65 billion that is expected to be in the final bill for broadband deployment.
The Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Agriculture, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Friday they’ve already begun sharing information and coordinating their efforts to ensure the distribution of funds goes smoothly.
“President Biden has made it clear that bringing affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband to every American is a priority, and we can make it a reality through the historic investments in the American Jobs Plan,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement.
The information now being shared between the agencies includes everything from the status of existing funding programs to levels of broadband service across the country to the technologies that will be deployed once projects get underway.
Jessica Rosenworcel, the acting chairwoman for the FCC, said the effort comes down to being “good stewards of funds supporting these projects.”
