{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-announces-more-than-346-million-fcc-investment-to-expand-rural-broadband-in-missouri", "Blunt Announces More Than $346 Million FCC Investment to Expand Rural Broadband in Missouri", "2020-12-07", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "House", "MO", "Roy Blunt", "B000575", "www.blunt.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON  Today, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.), a\r\nmember of the Senate Commerce Committee, announced that the Federal\r\nCommunications Commission (FCC) has awarded 17 Missouri broadband providers a\r\ntotal of more than $346 million to expand high speed internet in rural areas.\r\nThe resources were awarded through the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund\r\nPhase I auction. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how essential\r\nconnectivity is for everything from child care and education, to telehealth, to\r\nfarming and local business, said Blunt. While we've made meaningful progress\r\ntoward ending the digital divide, nearly one-third of rural Missourians still\r\ndon't have access to broadband. This investment will get us another step closer\r\nto bringing high-speed internet to unserved areas in our state. I will continue\r\nworking to ensure the federal government does its part to expand broadband and\r\nprovide a foundation for more jobs, better education, and stronger economic\r\ngrowth in our rural communities. Blunt has led efforts in Congress to expand high speed\r\ninternet in Missouri. In October, Blunt commended the U.S. Department of Agriculture\r\nfor investing an additional $91.5\r\nmillion in broadband grant funding through the ReConnect Pilot Program.\r\nOver the past two years, Missouri has received nearly $200 million in funding\r\nthrough the Blunt-backed\r\nprogram, amounting to about 20% of all the support provided nationwide. In addition, in 2018, the FCC Connect America Fund Phase-II\r\nauction awarded $255\r\nmillion in broadband funding to communities across the state. Missouri\r\nreceived about 17% of the total amount allocated nationwide. Following are the recipients of the grant funding announced\r\ntoday, according to the FCC:\r\n \r\n  \r\n  Awardee\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  Amount\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Aptitude\r\n  Internet, LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $24,655,295\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Barry Technology\r\n  Services, LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $14,502\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  CCO Holdings, LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $48,392,327\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  CenturyLink, Inc.\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $275,208\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Chariton Valley\r\n  Communications Corporation\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $8,070,272\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  LTD Broadband,\r\n  LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $158,793,688\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Mercury\r\n  Wireless, Inc.\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $4,254,918\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  NRTC Phase I\r\n  RDOF Consortium\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $1,682,687\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  NexTier\r\n  Consortium\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $2,108,576\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Northeast\r\n  Missouri Rural Telephone Company\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $60,126\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Rural American\r\n  Broadband Consortium\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $4,525,266\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Rural Electric\r\n  Cooperative Consortium\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $88,238,706\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Socket Telecom,\r\n  LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $232,768\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Windstream\r\n  Services, LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $3,078,402\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Wisper-CABO 904\r\n  Consortium\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $1,159,205\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  Worldwide\r\n  Technologies, Inc.\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $700,874\r\n  \r\n \r\n \r\n  \r\n  yondoo Broadband,\r\n  LLC\r\n  \r\n  \r\n  $54,833", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.blunt.senate.gov/news/press-releases/blunt-announces-more-than-346-million-fcc-investment-to-expand-rural-broadband-in-missouri"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0163746774196625, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}