The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s ReConnect Program provides loans and grants to construct, improve or acquire facilities and equipment needed to provide broadband service in eligible rural areas. In March 2018, Congress provided $600 million to the USDA for this program and on February 20, 2020, it was announced that STRATA Networks was selected to receive a $23.7 million loan-grant to build an all fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network to more than 3,000 businesses, farms, and homes spread over more than 400 square miles of the Uintah Basin.
The program has been so successful that Congress allocated an additional $550 million to a second round of funding to be distributed through the ReConnect Program. On August 11, 2022, the USDA announced that STRATA was awarded a $24.5 million grant to deploy a FTTH network to an additional 3,472 households, 32 businesses, and 39 farms.
These grants, loans and combination funds enable the federal government to partner with the private sector and rural communities to build modern broadband infrastructure in areas with insufficient internet service. Insufficient service is defined as connection speeds of less than 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload.