Expanding access to broadband was one of the key technology promises that President Obama made on the campaign trail. In January 2009, we rated the pledge In the Works, since the economic stimulus bill that Obama signed in February of that year contained roughly $6 billion for expanding high-speed Internet access.

We're well into the second year of Obama's presidency, so we wanted to see how he's been doing.

To start off, the final version of the stimulus bill that Obama signed directed $7.2 billion toward broadband expansion projects. Of that amount, the Commerce Department received $4.7 billion. The rest went to the Department of Agriculture.

As of July 2010, $2.7 billion in grants and loans has been spent on more than 260 projects, according to a White House statement. The most recent batch of grants went out in July of this year. The administration awarded $795 million to 66 new projects, with an additional $200 million coming in from private investment programs. "In total, tens of millions of Americans and over 685,000 businesses, 900 health care facilities and 2,400 schools in all fifty states stand to benefit from the awards," the White House said.

Additionally, in March 2010, the Federal Communications Commission released the first ever National Broadband Plan. The 360-page document makes numerous recommendations for expanding Internet access. It also includes six long-term goals. As an example, the plan calls on every American community to have at least 1 gigabit per second connection and for every first responder to have access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable broadband public safety network.

On June 28, 2010, President Obama signed a memorandum directing the FCC to "make available a total of 500 MHz of Federal and non-federal spectrum over the next 10 years, suitable for both mobile and fixed wireless broadband use." Translation: the government is trying to increase the capacity for faster wireless transmissions.

Finally, on July 15, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it is initiating a new $400 million health care connectivity program to expand broadband access for medically underserved regions. The agency hopes that the new program will lower health care costs, improve medical care, spur private investment in networks, and help create jobs. "Nearly 30 percent of federally funded rural health care clinics can't afford secure and reliable broadband services," the FCC wrote in a press release.

President Obama promised to expand broadband's reach. So far, his administration has spent $2.7 billion dollars in loans and grants on expansion projects. The FCC has also issued a comprehensive broadband strategy plan, and there is movement to open up the airwaves for faster wireless connections. The government is also investing money to expand broadband access in rural hospitals. But the recommendations in the plan still have to be implemented, and less than half the money has been spent. So we're keeping this one In the Works.