[SatNews] ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq:VSAT) subsidiary WildBlue Communications LLC has been awarded an estimated $19.5 million in grant funding. These monies are from the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) to connect unserved residents to affordable broadband services.

The funding is in response to WildBlue's Western Regional Proposal to the RUS, which focused on providing service to less densely populated areas in 20 western and midwestern states which have no access to broadband services offered by terrestrial carriers, including many areas which are economically disadvantaged.  The award is conditional on reaching agreement on terms and conditions with the RUS.   

WildBlue, with co-applicants DIRECTV and DISH, submitted its Western Regional Proposal, requesting a grant to activate new subscribers in the western U.S. Subscribers covered by the grant would receive service from one of WildBlue's three current satellites – Anik-F2, WildBlue-1, and AMC-15 – and starting in mid 2011, from the new high-capacity ViaSat-1 satellite.