Update on rural broadband and the stimulus package

An NPR story on Friday was headlined "Mobile Device Use Constrained by Bandwidth." Journalists Ari Shapiro and Steve Inskeep wrapped up the segment with this update on the somewhat related topic of the boost the stimulus package gave to rural broadband.

INSKEEP: Some pockets of the country have no real high-speed Internet access at all. Last years stimulus package included more than $7 billion to increase broadband access to rural communities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is in charge of distributing some of the money.

SHAPIRO: And this week, they awarded more than $300 million in grants. The money funds 14 projects from Alaska to Alabama. Not everyone is happy with the program. Yesterday, Alabamas Republican Senator Richard Shelby called it wasteful spending by the Obama administration.