Northeast Nebraska Counties Receive Nearly $6 Million for Rural Broadband Growth

Parts of three counties in northeast Nebraska will receive a $5.7 million investment in their rural broadband infrastructure from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA grant will be used to construct 221 miles of fiber networks in counties near Norfolk, according to a USDA press release. Greg Ibach, USDA under secretary and former Nebraska director of agriculture, said in order to utilize new technologies, rural broadband is necessary not only for agriculture in all parts of rural America, but for education, too.

“Sometimes, we find that kids have to go into town to do their homework. They can’t do it out on the farm or ranch where they live in rural America, and that’s just not acceptable.”

Congress allocated $600 million to the USDA in 2018 for rural broadband improvement across the country. Madison, Wayne and Pierce counties were three of many places across the U.S. that met qualifications for the USDA grants.