PCCA Journal|1
st
Quarter 2011
11
Alaska -
Cordova Telephone Cooperative,
Inc.; $10,750,000 loan
Arkansas -
Southwest Arkansas Tel. Coop.,
Inc. $22,418,000 loan
Iowa -
Interstate 35 Telephone Company
$7,090,000 loan
Kansas -
South Central Telephone Assoc.,
Inc. $10,215,000 loan
Minnesota -
Garden Valley Telephone Com-
pany $34,177,000 loan
Montana -
Central Montana Communica-
tions, Inc.; $38,793,000 loan
Southern Montana Telephone Company;
$5,544,000 loan
Montana & Wyoming -
Range Telephone
Cooperative, Inc.; $18,000,000 loan
North Dakota -
Reservation Telephone Co-
operative $32,322,000 loan
NewMexico -
Tularosa Basin Telephone Co.,
Inc.; $8,572,000 loan
South Dakota -
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Telephone Authority; $37,870,000 loan
Wisconsin -
Nelson Telephone Cooperative;
$22,132,000 loan
T
he U.S. Agriculture Department announced on
November 11 nearly $247.9 million in funding for
telecommunications projects that will improve
broadband service to rural residents and busi-
nesses in 11 states. This funding, which is part of the $690
million investment from USDA’s Telecommunications Infra-
structure Loan Program during fiscal year 2010, will finance
more than 16,000 miles of fiber to the home (FTTH), bring-
ing high-speed internet service to rural areas.
Administered by USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), this
infrastructure financing is in addition to the $3.5 billion in
broadband funding RUS awarded for rural broadband projects
under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The telecommunications infrastructure program funds facili-
ties and equipment for upgrades, expansion, maintenance,
and replacement of rural networks. RUS funded approximate-
ly $537 million in FTTH projects during fiscal year 2010.
For example, in Kansas, a $10.2 million loan for South Cen-
tral Telephone Association, Inc. will be used to deploy 192
new route miles of fiber and copper cable. These upgrades
will improve service for rural residents and businesses and
help the systems meet current and future telecommunications
requirements.
In South Dakota, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone
Authority, a telephone company wholly owned by Native
Americans, received a $37.9 million loan. The financing will
enable them to complete a total fiber-to-the-premises build-
out, which will bring broadband to homes and businesses in
their service area.
Funding of each recipient is contingent upon their meeting
the conditions of the loan agreement. A complete list of the
rural utilities that were selected for funding is below:
Rural Telecom Projects Get a $247.9 Million Boost
USDA Submits Comments to Support
Development of the National Broadband Plan
T
he USDA submitted com-
ments to the Federal
Communications Commis-
sion (FCC) in November to
support development of the National
Broadband Plan based on what it called
“the department’s considerable experi-
ence in financing broadband projects in
rural areas.” The FCC is implementing
the plan to guide broadband deployment
nationwide.
Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Admin-
istrator Jonathan Adelstein submitted a
letter in which he offered to make RUS
data available to the FCC as the indepen-
dent regulatory agency evaluates policy
options to advance broadband deploy-
ment. He noted that RUS loan financing
to rural telecommunications providers is
“dependent on sufficient, specific, and
predictable revenues to ensure that all
Americans enjoy the benefits of modern
telecommunications technology.” Only
four out of the current 480 RUS telecom-
munications program borrowers do not
receive federal universal service support
for high-cost areas. Adelstein said that
the two agencies can work together to
ensure that the “right mix of incentives
are available to attract private sector
investment into otherwise uneconomic
areas.”
RUS is a policy, planning, and lending
agency within the USDA and currently
manages a $56 billion portfolio consist-
ing of loans that support the construc-
tion of water and waste treatment
systems, electric systems, and broadband
networks in rural communities.
The RUS telecommunications program
currently has more than $4.2 billion
in outstanding principal, which will
increase substantially with awards this
year under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act. The current rural loan
portfolio consists of approximately 2,337
active loans to borrowers committed
to building and upgrading broadband
capable networks across rural America.