PCCA Journal|3
rd
Quarter 2015
25
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USDA Provides Funding for Rural Broadband Projects
A
griculture Secretary Tom Vil-
sack in July announced $85.8
million in funding to strengthen
access to high speed broadband for rural
America. Below is a summary of the
loans and grants in the announcement.
Telecommunications Loans:
In Minnesota, a $12.63 million loan
to Garden Valley Telephone will in-
clude fiber and electronics upgrades to
improve the system for rural subscrib-
ers. Consolidated Telephone will use a
$12.27 million loan to provide greater
bandwidth to subscribers, allowing de-
livery of enhanced services with network
upgrades, infrastructure additions, and
add a new fiber ring.
South Carolina’s FTC Communications
will use a $12.38 million loan to upgrade
its wireless telecommunications network
to 4G/LTE, meeting growing demand for
reliable, higher speed services.
In Montana, Triangle Telephone Coop-
erative Association will use a $29.95 mil-
lion loan to upgrade its system with fiber
to supply greater bandwidth to increase
speed and the quality of service for their
rural Montana subscribers.
In Wisconsin, LaValle Telephone
Cooperative will use $7.61 million to
deploy fiber and replace a switch to
provide rural subscribers with improved
services, including voice over Internet
Protocol and the flexibility to connect to
Gigabit Ethernet and IP interfaces.
Community Connect Grants:
In Alaska, the Arctic Slope Telephone
Association Cooperative, Inc. will receive
a $1.4 million grant to provide Point
Hope subscribers with high-speed Inter-
net service and prepare the network for
an undersea fiber connection currently
planned for construction within the next
two years.
Minnesota’s Northeast Service Co-
operative (NESC) will receive two $3
million grants for two projects to provide
broadband service to subscribers on
the Fond du Lac Reservation. NESC will
partner with the Fond du Lac Band of
Superior Chippewa.
Oklahoma’s @Link Services will
receive a grant of nearly $1.5 million to
provide high-speed broadband to homes,
businesses and critical community facili-
ties in parts of Seminole County.
Virginia’s Scott County Telephone
Cooperative will receive $2.1 million to
build a broadband network with one
gigabyte of bandwidth for 540 locations
in Dickenson County. This project is
expected to benefit Edwards Ridge and
the surrounding area by promoting eco-
nomic development through improved
broadband access.