Broadband grants fall far short of what some expected

We live in a world where having adequate high-speed internet service is not just a luxury, but a necessity.

With proper broadband, you can use a computer to run a business, manage a good website, work remotely and operate the new generation of precision agriculture equipment.

But here’s the problem – it’s expensive to hook up every home, farm and ranch to the best service, which is generally agreed to be fiber optic cables.

When it came to electricity, the nation opted for a federal loan program, the Rural Electrification Act of 1936, that financed the stringing of transmission wires to even t...