By John Eggerton
Multichannel News
01/08/2018

The Department of Agriculture has officially dubbed “Reliable and affordable high-speed connectivity” as a key to helping rural America.

It is already an avowed priority of President Trump’s pick for FCC chairman, Ajit Pai.

The Administration’s official imprimatur came in the “Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity,” which was officially presented to the President Monday (Jan. 8) by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue at the American Farm Bureau Federation gathering in Nashville, where both were speaking.

“Connect Americans Now Executive Director Richard Cullen applauded the report. ““No one has more grit and determination than American farmers, and we are excited to hear that President Trump is focused on unleashing that productivity by bringing broadband service into more rural communities,” he said, using the opportunity to put in a plug for using the so-called TV “white spaces.”

“23.4 million rural Americans still don’t have any access to broadband, which not only limits the use of precision agriculture but holds back students, freezes growth opportunities for small businesses, and eliminates potentially life-saving options for telemedicine,” Cullen said. “We can close the digital divide in five years with the right combination of fiber-based, satellite, and wireless technologies, including TV white spaces.”

Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Ridley told reporters on Air Force one that the report’s first order of business is “better” internet coverage.

Also asked about the prospect of Oprah running for President in 2020, Hogan said: “[R]egardless of who’s on the ballot, regardless who decides to run against this President, they are going to have to face a President who has record-setting achievements in record-setting time, whether it’s an economy that is booming, job creation, historic tax cuts and tax reform when that hadn’t been touched in 30 years, an increase in wages, an absolute decimation of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. ”

Read the original story in Multichannel News here.