Pennsylvania will receive almost $130 million in stimulus funding for two projects designed at booting up a wired commonwealth and creating an estimated 1,000 jobs over the next two years.

Combined, the two projects should provide high-speed Internet access to nearly 3 million households and about 400,000 businesses. Pennsylvania's haul Thursday accounts for almost 10 percent of the amount awarded nationwide in this first round of funding.

The projects will expand connectivity to rural areas -- some now impeded by mountainous terrain -- and continue the Obama administration's pursuit of broadband access as a leg of economic recovery.

Two government programs, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) and the Broadband Initiative Program (BIP), have been allocated a combined $7.2 billion from the stimulus fund for broadband expansion to underserved communities. The projects announced Thursdays are part of the BTOP's first round of funding.

Almost $100 million in government funding will help create the Pennsylvania Research and Education Network (PennREN), an infrastructure spanning 39 counties that connects schools, health care networks, libraries and state and local governments.

The other funding announced awards the state $28.8 million to expand Internet connectivity among 32 rural counties in northern Pennsylvania between Interstate 80 and the New York border.

The topography and low-population density of the region make expansion difficult, but Pennsylvania will be "totally wired as a state by the end of next year, for sure," said Gov. Ed Rendell.

The investments were announced by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and Gov. Rendell Thursday at Carnegie Mellon University. A Recovery Act-supporter, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, was also in attendance.

State government has not picked contractors for the project yet.

PennREN will be created by the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research. With an additional $29 million in contributions from the applicants, the project will serve 39 counties throughout south and central Pennsylvania -- including Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Beaver, Butler, Armstrong and Indiana. Of those 39 counties, 22 are considered to be unserved or underserved in their access to broadband services.

PennREN will create an "interstate beltway" of nearly 1,700 miles of fiber-optic cables with 13 anchor facilities and approximately 50 satellite sites, Mr. Locke said. The 60-some sites will provide connectivity to a surrounding radius.

Private sector contractors eventually could move the PennREN broadband connection from these sites to the home, completing the "last mile" and bringing Internet connectivity to an expected 2 million homes and 200,000 businesses.

The satellite sites have not been named yet, but several nearby locations will act as anchor facilities: Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Slippery Rock University, Clarion University of Pennsylvania and the Allegheny Center Mall.

According to the network's application for funding, the affiliated partners "lack sufficient capital to construct their own networks and/or the ability to charge fees at a rate high enough to sustain a system once it is built."

Among those partners are Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University, the University of Pittsburgh, a collaboration of the Allegheny Library Association and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the Three Rivers Optical Exchange.

Mr. Locke said Thursday's announcements would have no bearing when deciding which states receive money in subsequent funding rounds although every state will receive at least one grant.

The BIP program began accepting applications for funding earlier this week and will close the process in mid-March.

The demand has been overwhelming. Almost 2,200 requests have been received, requesting some $28 billion in aid -- almost four times the amount available.

The stop was part of a three-hour tour for the commerce secretary, who also visited Wheeling, W.Va., Thursday to announce additional Recovery Act initiatives. Nationwide, ten grants totaling $357 million were announced Thursday.

Wednesday marked the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the Recovery Act into law.

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