Setting Standards RUS has published guidelines for state governments and RUS borrowers to develop state telecommunications modernization plans. These plans are designed to ensure that advanced telecommunications applications are brought to rural areas at approximately the same time as urban areas. The plans promote educational and health care opportunities as well as provide the necessary infrastructure for economic development. To date, RUS has approved modernization plans for 46 states. Financing for Infrastructure Building The Telecommunications Program of RUS makes loans to full-service, incorporated commercial, nonprofit, or cooperative rural telecommunications providers.
Borrowers can select shorter maturity periods, which result in savings over the life of the loan.
Guaranteed Loans bear interest at a rate agreed upon by the borrower and the lender. RUS provides a 100 percent guarantee. FFB loans bear interest at the Treasury rate for comparable maturities plus one-eighth of one percent. RUS uses the National School Lunch Program as an indicator of financial distress and to categorize applicants into one of the three financing options. This is the same criterion that the Federal Communications Commission uses to determine schools' and libraries' discounts for telecommunications service.