USDA invests $9.5 Million in rural broadband for area communities

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a nine-and-a-half-million dollar investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure in three area counties.  Valley Telecommunications Cooperative is using the money from ReConnect grant funding to deploy a fiber-to-the-home network in Brookings, Kingsbury and Moody Counties.

Julie Gross, USDA’s Rural Development South Dakota State Director, says this brings benefits to these rural communities.  

Valley Telecommunications is based in Herreid, South Dakota.  Gross says this will provide vital internet infrastructure. 

Gross says this will also be an improvement for precision agriculture.

This is part of the first round of USDA’s ReConnect Pilot Program investments. In March 2018, Congress provided 600-million dollars to USDA to expand broadband infrastructure and services in rural America.

(Thanks, Brookings Radio)