USDA’s Andy Berke Champions Fiber as Key to Rural Broadband Success

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9, 2024 – Can low-Earth orbit satellites really solve rural America’s broadband gap? Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton isn’t convinced.

"If we can get electricity to a house, we can get fiber there too," Bolton remarked in a conversation Wednesday with Andy Berke, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. 

The two broadband leaders discussed proposed guidance that could result in low-Earth orbit satellites or fixed wireless being classified as adequate broadband service under the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program.