Feds Nearing Halfway Mark With $7.2 Billion Stimulus Funding
July 14, 2010
| 3:55 PM
Federal regulators have distributed nearly half of the $7.2 billion in stimulus dollars set aside for extending broadband's reach, particularly to rural areas, with investments in 270 projects nationwide, according to a report released Wednesday by the Council of Economic Advisors.
All fifty states and a few territories have received a total of $3.1 billion distributed by the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service.
Most of the NTIA stimulus money distributed so far ($1.7 billion) will be spent on building and improving 50,000 miles of broadband infrastructure for underserved communities, the report says. The RUS, which already has spent $1.4 billion, is focused on expanding high-speed Internet access in rural areas.
Demand for the stimulus money far exceeds the $4.1 billion left in the pot: both agencies have received a combined 3,800 applications requesting more than $52 billion in support.
Broadband money accounts for about two percent of the Recovery Act funds dedicated to public investments, which is $319 billion, according to CEA Chair Christina Romer.
Read the report here
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Broadband
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