Montana prepping for burst of broadband expansion, with federal dollars

Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on federal COVID-relief funds in Montana – which will top $7 billion.

As broad swaths of Montana still have substandard high-speed Internet or cell-phone service – or, none at all – the Gianforte administration is launching a federally funded $275 million-plus effort to improve that picture.

The money is from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), passed by Congress this March, without a single Republican vote.