DAVIS, Calif., Dec. 18, 2024 - Today, USDA Rural Development California State Director Maria Gallegos Herrera announced a $11.6 million investment to improve rural access to high-speed internet in Madera County.
“Everyone benefits from having better internet, especially those in our rural communities,” Gallegos Herrera said. “With the ReConnect Program, USDA continues to show up for rural California, ensuring those in hard-to-reach places enjoy the same opportunities for business, healthcare, and education that their urban neighbors have access to.”
Sierra Telephone Company Inc. will deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to provide high-speed internet, benefiting people, businesses, and farms in Madera County.
The Department is awarding more than $313 million in funding today to connect people to high-speed internet in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin through the fifth round of the ReConnect Program.
The ReConnect Program is specifically designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are in the most rural, remote and unserved communities. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, the Department has invested approximately $4.4 billion for 360 ReConnect awards that will bring high-speed internet access to more than 680,000 people in the most rural and remote areas of America. More than $2.2 billion of this funding, which will benefit an estimated 341,000 people, was made available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/ca. To subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.