USDA has awarded nearly $40 million in loans for new or improved broadband services in rural parts of Minnesota, North Dakota, and Texas. The loans are being funded through the USDA Rural Utilities Service’s “Telecommunication Infrastructure Loan Program” to expand voice, video, and data services.
In Texas, the Community Telephone Company will use a $26.4 million loan to replace its outdated copper system with a fiber-to-the-premises network. System improvement will also take place in six exchanges in North Central Texas.
The Red River Rural Telephone Association received an $8.5 million loan to construct 145 miles of buried fiber optic cable in parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. This project will complete Red River’s fiber-to-the-premises network and the upgraded system will meet not only current requirements but also requirements for voice, video, and high speed data services to subscribers.
The Griggs County Telephone Company in North Dakota will use a $4.7 million loan to deploy fiber-to-the-premises in the state and also use loan funds to make improvements in the system’s four exchanges. The project will provide expanded voice, video, and data services to 682 subscribers.
Looking back, the Dakota Central Communications Cooperative received a $2.2 million USDA broadband grant in 2010 to bring fiber-to-the-premises service to North Dakota and now this network connects more than 400 rural subscribers. This funding, it is believed to be the largest 100 percent fiber-to-the-home network covering 10,000 square miles and the network now reaches 18,000 homes in the U.S.