This week, United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of roughly $12 million in rural broadband funding through the Community Connect grant program. The Community Connect program is administered by the Rural Utilities Service and helps to fund broadband deployment in rural communities where rural broadband deployment is often too costly to incentivize the private sector to provide the service.
Community Connect grants can be used to fund the construction, acquisition, or leasing of facilities, spectrum, land or buildings used to deploy broadband service. Local governments are listed among those eligible to compete for funding, with a minimum grant of $100,000 and a maximum grant of $3 million. Applications are due June 17, 2016.
Detailed information on the Community Connect program can be accessed here.