On Friday, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a $5 million investment in two high-speed broadband infrastructure projects in south Georgia. The projects will create or improve rural online connectivity for more than 1,2000 households, 32 subscribed businesses and 20 subscribed farms. The program in McIntosh and Evans counties is one of several across the country in the first round of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect Pilot Program.
“Our core mission at USDA is to increase rural prosperity through boosting economic opportunity in rural America,” said Perdue. “We know that rural communities need robust, modern infrastructure to thrive, and that includes having access to broadband e-Connectivity. Under the leadership of President Trump, USDA is proud to partner with rural communities to deploy this critical infrastructure, because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”
The grants, loans and other funding in the program are limited to areas with insufficient service which is defined as connection speeds of less than 10 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 1 Mbps upload. For comparison, much of metro Atlanta is now approaching internet speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps or 1 Gigabit per second.
Perdue was joined in Claxton by Georgia Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for the announcement.
“In today’s global economy, broadband access is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. President Trump and Secretary Perdue have taken strong action to support rural communities, and their efforts are making a real difference,” said Senator Perdue. “This investment will have a huge impact on education, business, and healthcare in Southeast Georgia. Most importantly, it will help ensure no Georgian is left behind. The Trump Administration knows that when rural communities succeed, America succeeds, and I applaud their commitment to closing the digital divide.”
The $5 million will go to three separate projects. Darien Telephone Company (DTC) will receive a $1 million ReConnect Program grant to expand high-speed internet service to underserved households and businesses in McIntosh County. DTC will be using Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology.
Pembroke Telephone Company will receive a $2 million grant and a $2 million loan to build an FTTP network in Evans County.
“We’ve been able to share with the community how important farmers are to our state and to our country. I’m looking forward to making sure that we continue this great program,” said Loeffler.
Applications are now being accepted for the second round of funding and will be accepted until March 16. The application and more information on what it takes to apply can be found here.
This program was made possible by Congress’ approval in March of 2018 of $600 million for USDA to expand broadband infrastructure and services in rural areas. Secretary Perdue announced the rules of the program in December of that year and applications began being accepted in June of last year. In December, Perdue also announced an additional $550 million in ReConnect funding – bringing the total to more than $1 billion for rural broadband programs.
