Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S.Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced that the U.S. Commerce Department has approved Nevada to invest over $416 million that she secured to expand access to high-speed internet for households across Nevada. This is the final step in a years-long effort to finalize this funding that Senator Cortez Masto helped deliver through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Senator specifically worked to ensure Nevada would receive more funding by pushing the administration to update their National Broadband Map to accurately reflect the state’s broadband needs.
“This critical funding I’ve helped deliver to connect Nevadans in all corners of our state will be a gamechanger for so many households who still lack access to high-speed internet,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “Thanks to the support provide by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, more Nevadans, both rural and urban, will be able to get online to stay in touch with loved ones, complete their education, and grow their businesses.”
The BEAD program is an initiative designed to help close the digital divide by expanding access to high-speed internet in underserved and unserved areas. This grant funding will be used to support planning, infrastructure development, and adoption programs to expand high-speed internet access to over 50,000 households in Nevada.
As part of her Innovation State Initiative, Senator Cortez Masto has led efforts to improve broadband access and strengthen Nevada’s economy. She successfully called for increased accountability for federal broadband programs through efforts like the FCC broadband map which helped deliver the State of Nevada additional funding through more accurate broadband accessibility data. The Senator has also pushed for greater transparency and tracking of federal broadband dollars through her bipartisan mapping tool she created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. She also passed her bipartisan ACCESS Broadband Act to establish an office in the Commerce Department that administers Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, provides technical assistance to communities, and tracks taxpayer dollars.
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