Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai proposed an order to provide $500 million in additional funding to bring broadband internet to rural America. The funding would go to cooperatives and small rural carriers for broadband deployment.
Besides trying to close the rural broadband gap, the order would "institute new regulations aimed at preventing abuse of the Connect America Fund and promote broadband access in tribal lands," Mallory Locklear reports for Engadget. The proposed order "comes on the heels of President Donald Trump signing an executive order that speeds up federal permitting for broadband expansion in rural areas and makes it easier for wireless operators to put cell towers on federal lands," Jake Smith reports for ZDNet.
The Connect America Fund, also known as the Universal Service High-Cost Program, is an FCC program to expand telephone and broadband services to rural areas. Under the program, "the FCC provides funding to local telephone companies to subsidize the cost of building new network infrastructure or performing network upgrades to provide voice and broadband service in areas where it is lacking," according to the FCC website.
"As part of a Connect America Fund promise, AT&T has been rolling out wireless internet to rural areas since April of last year and as of September, it had launched its services in 18 states," Locklear reports.
The proposed order hasn't been released yet, so more details aren't yet available.
from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2FPW27h FCC proposes $500 million funding for rural broadband - Entrepreneur Generations
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