Today, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator David Redl issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement of a $600 million loan and grant program [2] to assist with building rural broadband infrastructure:

“The Administration is taking an important step to help close the broadband coverage gap for the millions of rural Americans who lack access to broadband connectivity with the launch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s $600 million grant and loan program. NTIA looks forward to providing technical assistance to potential applicants through its partnership with USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS). NTIA’s BroadbandUSA team has extensive experience working in the telecommunications industry, building broadband networks and consulting with service providers and local governments. Using this expertise, our team will be supporting educational materials and workshops to help applicants with the grant and loan process.”