Register-Herald

By Sarah Plummer

Doug Kinkoph, associate administrator for the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program is nearing the end of its $4 billion funding.

Funded by the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, the program has completed more than 240 projects to expand broadband across the country — 116,000 miles of open access fiber was laid to provide internet access to 26,000 schools, libraries and hospitals.

The need, however, was significantly greater than the available funding, said Kinkoph. They program received 2,800 applications seeking a total of $37 billion in funding — nine times the amount of available funds.

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