USDA Announces Funding for Broadband Services

USDA has announced more than $200 million in infrastructure projects to bring broadband to hundreds of unserved and underserved rural communities, including a region in southern Illinois.

USDA Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development Anne Haslett Monday said, "Broadband infrastructure is vital to our economy and quality of life in rural America, yet today nearly 40% of rural residents and businesses lack access to the same quality service available in urban centers."

Just over $9.4 million is being allocated to Wabash Telephone Cooperative. The funding is to pay for construction of 264 miles of a fiber to-the-premises broadband network in the Orchardville and Xenia service areas. The network upgrade will increase broadband speeds and make fiber available to all subscribers.

More than 71,000 residents and businesses in the targeted areas will receive new or improved broadband access in the affected area in Illinois, along with Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.