The Arkansas Legislative Council on Friday approved grants to the cities of Benton and Cabot and Arkansas, Howard and Polk counties to help pay for studies required for federal broadband grant and loan applications.
The city of Cabot and Arkansas, Howard and Polk counties will each receive $75,000 Rural Broadband ID grants and the city of Benton will receive a $40,000 grant, said Joseph Sanford Jr., interim director of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences' Institute of Digital Health and Innovation, which administers the program.
The grants are available to help cities, incorporated towns, counties and unincorporated communities conduct broadband due diligence business studies that are required in federal grant and loan applications for funds to pay for broadband infrastructure, Sanford said in a letter to the Legislative Council's co-chairmen, Sen.
