The federal government allocated $334.6 million to improve high-speed internet access on the island, the Assistant Secretary for Innovation, Information, Data and Technology, Enrique Völckers-Nin, announced on Wednesday.
“This assignment will allow us to continue implementing programs to strengthen our internet infrastructure,” Völckers Nin said in written statements.
“We will be able to bury fiber, improve service centers, and create training programs, among other things,” he added.
The million-dollar allocation is added to $400 million in local funds and a first disbursement of $100 million, of which $5 million are earmarked for planning efforts to close the digital divide in Puerto Rico, according to Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
The Smart Island program aims to create a resilient fiber system that allows faster recovery from storms and other major natural events, in addition to increasing the reach and bandwidth for “Community Anchor Institutions.”
“The federal government’s million-dollar allocation to serve more than 92,000 localities without high-speed internet service is proof that our administration is delivering results and our program, although ambitious, is promising,” concluded Völckers Nin.
Within the Smart Island program, projects have been developed to improve connectivity, such as the investment of 50 million dollars for the Public WiFi Program that will allow the creation of 190 public WiFi spaces in 46 municipalities on the Island. In addition, the federal government assigned 30 million dollars for the Internet Resilience and Hardening program, which will allocate funds to internet providers on the island to improve their infrastructure.
