Broadband Grants Keep Rolling
After coming under criticism last month by Senate appropriators for not moving fast enough to distribute broadband funding, the Commerce Department is picking up the pace. Virginia is the latest recipient, scoring two broadband grants totaling $21.5 million, the department said Monday.
The grants, being funded from the $7.2 billion in broadband money included in last year's economic stimulus package, will help fund the construction of 575 miles of new high-speed Internet infrastructure in southern Virginia, the department said. "Building-out the broadband capacity in Southwest and Southside Virginia is a critical piece of our effort to expand economic and educational opportunities in rural parts of our state," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in a news release.
One grant worth $16 million, which will be enhanced by $4 million in matching funds from the applicant, will go to the Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative to add 465 miles of new fiber-optic lines to an existing 800-mile fiber-optic, high-speed network. The new lines will connect 121 elementary and high schools to the existing network, allowing for new distance learning and virtual classroom opportunities, Commerce said. The other $5.5 million grant, matched by $1.4 million from the applicant, was awarded to the Virginia Tech Foundation to add 110 miles of open-access, fiber optic lines between Blacksburg, Va., and Beford City, Va., which will connect Virginia Tech University's main campus to its medical school near Roanoke, Va.
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