The Federal Communications Commission is creating a $20.4 billion program to subsidize the construction of broadband networks in unserved parts of the U.S. over the next decade.
Electric cooperatives, phone companies, satellite operators, and other telecom providers will compete for funding to expand broadband to areas where the FCC estimates some 6 million homes and businesses lack internet service.
“Our goal here is pretty simple: We want every American in rural areas who for too long has been on the wrong side of the digital divide to benefit from broadband,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said before an agency vote to ...