A federal grant will fund research into the digital divide and ways to solve it in Pennsylvania.
The National Telecommunication and Information Administration announced Tuesday that Pennsylvania has been awarded a two-year, $1.7 million grant to collection data about broadband adoption, MuniWireless reports. An additional $500,000 will be used for planning a broadband strategy in the state, bringing the total award to $2.2 million.
A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, which will handle the funds, was not immediately available for comment.
The NTIA has awarded $97 million to 51 grantees so far and will likely wrap up the remaining grants this quarter. The grants -which will be awarded to each state, the District of Columbia and five territories – are a part of the Obama administration’s strategy to improve broadband adoption in the U.S.
More than $300 million was set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to collect data to better assist the NTIA in distributing $7.2 billion to improve broadband infrastructure, create public computers centers and promote sustainable broadband adoption.
The City of Philadelphia requested $35 million in the NTIA’s first round of broadband investment, as we reported in September. The NTIA has not yet announced which projects will receive funding.
Join the conversation!
Find news, events, jobs and people who share your interests on Technical.ly's open community Slack