By Andrea Shalal
FREDERICKSBURG, Virginia (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen underscored the importance of investing in rural areas during a visit to Fredericksburg, Virginia on Monday to tour a broadband infrastructure project funded by the $1.9 trillion COVID-era American Rescue Plan.
Yellen toured a recently completed Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) high-speed internet installation site in Stafford County, where nearly 700 homes have secured broadband services as a result of funds from President Joe Biden's ARP legislation and its $10 billion Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
"Investing in broadband is at the heart of President Biden's economic agenda because it matters not just for growth but also for expanding opportunity," Yellen said, noting that high-speed internet was now a necessity for everything from education and work to healthcare.
She said the Biden administration was working to ensure that rural areas - where around one-third of households don't have reliable high-speed access - were able to catch up.
Virginia had allocated nearly all of its CPF funding and $600 million in separate state and local funds from the American Rescue Plan to expand high-speed access in the state. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law would provide an additional $1.5 billion, Yellen said.
She urged Congress to continue support for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) created under the infrastructure law that has helped subsidize internet service and ensure it costs eligible families no more than $30 a month. Funding is due to run out this month.
Biden, a Democrat who is seeking reelection in the November 2024 presidential election, and his top cabinet members have been crisscrossing the country to tout the benefits of legislation aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing, improving infrastructure and lowering energy costs.
Biden has struggled to win voter confidence in his handling of the economy amid persistently high inflation, although Yellen said she remained convinced that inflation would continue to come down.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Yellen said reducing inflation was Biden's top priority, citing continued efforts to lower prescription drug costs and bring down the cost of energy.
Financial markets are bracing for fresh U.S. inflation data this week with the producer price index to be released on Tuesday and the consumer price index on Wednesday.
Comcast spokesperson Kristopher Schneider said the company had invested nearly $900 million in technology and infrastructure in Virginia over the past three years to provide broadband service to tens of thousands of people in the state.
It has invested $20 billion nationally to quadruple its overall network capacity and provide multi-gigabit service to 15 million homes and businesses, Schneider said.
The company said the rural expansion in Stafford County, located about 70 miles south of Washington, was announced in September 2022 as part of a public-private partnership funded in part through the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Telecommunications Initiative (VATI) and the ARP.