On Tuesday, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Rural Development, and Credit conducted a hearing to examine the hurdles to expanding broadband services throughout the country’s rural and remote areas. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) testified that only 23 percent of rural residents have wireline broadband at a speed of 50 Mbps, compared to 98 percent of urban residents. The NRECA pointed to the National Broadband Map and anecdotal evidence that even 50 Mbps is extremely rare in rural America. Additional comments were made regarding rural America’s interest the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) Connect America Fund and E-rate programs. The FCC also recently launched the Rural Broadband Experiments program, the findings of which will help them better determine the challenges of expanding rural broadband access. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utility Service (RUS) also testified at the hearing. RUS’s current loan portfolio consists of nearly $4.6 billion in funds designed to help deliver affordable and reliable advanced telecommunications services to rural communities.
