The Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corp. will use a $2.3 million federal grant to increase high-speed Internet access to rural areas. | Adobe Stock
The Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corp. will use a $2.3 million federal grant to increase high-speed Internet access to rural areas. | Adobe Stock
The Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corporation will use recent federal funding to help build out Internet access in North Carolina's rural areas.
The federal government's $2.3 million inventment through the corporation will help the Yadkinville company pay for a fiber-to-the-premises network, a release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
The federal funding comes through the ReConnect grant that Congress started specifically to increase rural broadband access throughout the United States — a need that was significantly highlighted with remote learning because of COVID-19.
"Access to high-speed internet is a cornerstone of prosperity, and unfortunately, many of America's rural communities lack access to this critical infrastructure," USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand said in the release.
The Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corporation project aims to provide high-speed broadband internet access to 5,686 people, 67 farms and 18 businesses in Davie, Yadkin and Iredell counties, the release said.
"Connecting America's rural communities to this essential infrastructure is one of USDA's top priorities because we know that when rural America thrives, all of America thrives," Brand said in the release.
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