$65 billion in infrastructure bill to tackle rural broadband

<h2><br></h2> <p>(Nevada News Connection) - There's a light at the end of the tunnel for rural Nevadans struggling with slow, spotty internet service as the Biden administration's <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3684" target="_blank">infrastructure bill</a> has allocated $65 billion for broadband improvements.<br> <br> The U.S. Department of Agriculture's <a href="https://www.usda.gov/reconnect" target="_blank">ReConnect program</a> just started taking applications for grants and loans to companies willing to build out networks to underserved areas.<br> <br> Lynn Manning John, vice-principal of Owyhee Combined School on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, said her community desperately needs better coverage and more bandwidth.<br> <br> "In the building, we struggle with the internet going out regularly because the kids are on Chromebooks," Manning John explained. "And because of our location, which is a hundred miles from Elko, it sometimes takes us a day or two to get our internet back up."<br> <br> She pointed out the area has only a single cell tower, and pre-pandemic 90% of families had no home-based internet service. Rural areas often lack communication infrastructure, because the customer base is too small to provide a return on a telecom company's investment.<br> <br> Manning John said the future of her community, part of the Shoshone Paiute Tribe, depends on better broadband.<br> <br> "It cannot be left up to the market," Manning John contended. "These kids have a need. Internet is just as essential as indoor plumbing and electricity. It needs to be provided on the scale that we do any type of public service."<br> <br> Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, saying it favors urban over rural and suburban areas and creates red tape.<br> <br> Jenny Miller, vice president of states and industry relations with the nonprofit advocacy group Connected Nation, said the country needs to make distance learning and telemedicine available to