Rural Broadband

Latah County is kickstarting the expansion of its broadband and internet infrastructure with a $15 million grant from the White House.

Soon, more rural communities in western Idaho and eastern Oregon will have access to high speed internet.

Federal officials have announced another $759 million in funding for rural high-speed internet, including for states and tribes in our region. This is the third round of funding to build out internet access in rural areas. It finances projects in 24 states, three territories and tribal nations. In the Mountain West, that includes projects in Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming and the Navajo Nation.

The Biden administration announced last week that it's giving $502 million in loans and grants to rural communities and telecommunications companies to expand high-speed internet access. The list of grantees includes projects in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making a major investment to expand high-speed internet access in rural areas, including parts of the Mountain West.

The grants and loans in the agency's "ReConnect" program cover the cost of building and improving broadband facilities and equipment, especially in rural areas.

In Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, less than 8% of qualifying households had taken advantage of a federal broadband subsidy. But an expansion in eligibility may mean an uptick in uptake.

Rural communities are generally under-served by high-speed internet. Often, the costs of providing the service across open spaces cannot be recovered…

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As so many telecommuters, teachers, college students and children work and learn from home, there have been fears that the Internet wouldn't be up to the…