T-Mobile recently announced it will award $25 million over the next five years to 25 different small towns across the U.S. as a part of its Hometown Grants program, an initiative to bring 5G to rural areas nationwide.
During this five-year commitment, T-Mobile plans to hire 7,500 employees in small towns while also granting $25 million to support community deployment projects, including creating technology labs, enhancing town parks and playgrounds, and developing outdoor classrooms equipped with public Wi-Fi.
Communities receiving the grant span across the nation, including small towns in states such as:
Alabama
California
Idaho
Mississippi
North Carolina
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Washington
For this program, T-Mobile joined efforts with two consulting partners, Main Street America and Smart Growth America, who have years of experience helping build thriving rural towns and communities. The three organizations worked together to select grant recipients based on a variety of factors, including detail and breadth of their submission, the impact the project will have on their community, and the viability of the project itself.
“These incredible projects spark innovation, ingenuity, and hard work that have always been the hallmark of our nation’s small towns,” said Jon Freier, Executive Vice President of Consumer Group at T-Mobile. “From beautifying historic Main Streets to building all-new retail spaces, pop-ups, and parks… this is part of our commitment to rural America, and we can’t wait to see all these creative plans come to life.”
Recipients are selected on a quarterly basis. Communities with less than 50,000 people are eligible to apply for the next round of selections. For more information, read T-Mobile’s full article.