Broadband equipment shortage slows rural buildout

In Missouri and likely elsewhere, broadband equipment shortages are hindering efforts to spend Agriculture Department grant money on rural build-out, and may make some utilities miss out on grants.

"The USDA is allocating $167 million in grants and loans to broadband providers in Oklahoma, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia, North Dakota, Arizona, Alaska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia in the latest round of the ReConnect program. The funds are part of $550 million Congress provided for the program in 2020 and 2021," Seth Bodine reports for Harvest Public Media. "Broadband providers already are having a hard time getting equipment. Shirley Bloomfield, the CEO of the National Rural Broadband Association, says providers says that they can’t get 30 to 40 percent of the needed equipment to install broadband. This includes fiber, which she says companies are waiting up to 71 weeks to be delivered."

Bloomfield said she's asking Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to extend grant compliance deadlines so providers can get equipment in time, Bodine reports. Vilsack has said the influx of infrastructure funding will encourage providers to increase production.