The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed into law in February 2009 to stimulate the U.S. economy, includes $7.2 billion in funds for building broadband networks in “unserved” and “underserved” areas. This funding has created a lot of excitement about dramatically expanding broadband access throughout the U.S. – as well as a lot of confusion about how the funds will be distributed.

NextGen Telecom Services Group recognizes broadband access is a critical component to the economic and social development of rural areas, as it impacts not only businesses and consumers, but also healthcare, education, government and other organizations. In fact, the Act not only covers building broadband networks, but also new or upgraded communications infrastructure for telemedicine, distance learning, improving public safety and other uses.

With extensive experience building broadband networks throughout rural areas and for a variety of customers, nextGen is well-positioned to help customers not only navigate the application and funding process, but also to build the networks in an “efficient and expeditious” manner as called for in the Act based on its ability to provide a turnkey, end-to-end network build or a la carte engineering, construction and fiber optics services for any part of a project.

It’s an exciting time for building broadband networks in rural markets, but the time to act is now since there must be at least one grant per state and all funds must be awarded by September 2010.

For further information, check out the helpful links on this page or please contact us to discuss how we can help you navigate this process and start building out your broadband footprint.