BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday a $6.2 million grant that will help bring reliable, high-speed internet to rural Berkeley County.
“This $6.2 million Rural Development investment will serve socially vulnerable communities in Berkeley County and will make high-speed internet affordable,” said USDA Rural Development South Carolina State Director Dr. Saundra Glover. “This project will fuel long-term economic development and opportunities in rural South Carolina.”
According to the USDA, Home Telephone Company will receive a ReConnect Program grant to connect nearly 4,000 people, 49 businesses, 46 farms and two educational facilities to high-speed internet in Berkeley County.
Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, the USDA said it has invested in 142 ReConnect projects that will bring high-speed internet access to 314,000 rural Americans.
Tuesday’s announcement also includes $714 million in USDA investments in Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Washington.
“High-speed internet is a key to prosperity for people who live and work in rural communities,” USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release. “Thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we can ensure that rural communities have access to the internet connectivity needed to continue to expand the economy from the bottom up and middle out and to make sure rural America remains a place of opportunity to live, work, and raise a family.”
Under President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes $65 billion to connect everyone to high-speed internet through the Internet for All initiative. The USDA is connecting more people to high-speed internet in this fourth funding round of the ReConnect Program.
Recent Comments