Telecom
Rural Missouri Welcomes Broadband
A Missouri co-op is the first in the Show Me State and among the first in the nation to deploy a “fiber-to-the-home” Internet technology using a federal stimulus grant and loan as financing.
Celebrating the arrival of broadband in rural Missouri are (from left) Jonathan Adelstein, RUS; Barry Hart, Mo. statewide; Gov. Jay Nixon; and Dan Strode, Ralls County EC. (Photo By: Heather Berry)
Ralls County Electric Co-op observed the occasion May 19 during a ceremonial “light-up,” a press event including Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein, and officials from several co-ops.
The co-op’s project is a cornerstone of MoBroadbandNow, a $311 million initiative launched by Nixon in 2009 to expand broadband to reach more homes, businesses, schools and health care facilities. The initiative, to be carried out over several years, will rely on public and private funds.
During the ceremony at the New London headquarters of Ralls County Electric Co-op, Nixon said the project and others throughout the state will benefit residents and businesses in rural areas “by enabling them to move vital information at speeds that had been limited to larger towns and cities.
“We want Missourians to have the same rapid and efficient communications tools, no matter where they live.”
Ralls County EC is building the fiber optic network with a $19.1 million grant and matching loan from RUS. By the time it’s completed by May 2013, the entire project will span 1,200 miles of fiber and reach some 4,500 homes, more than 300 businesses, and nearly 60 institutions. Right now, 450 miles of line serve 100 consumers, but as the network is being built, more will be added.
Before the May 19 event, Dan Strode, the co-op’s CEO, described the network as “sort of like going from a horse to a jet” in terms of Internet connectivity and speed. “It’s amazing what it will do for people. We already have people checking with realtors, to see if they can live on Ralls County lines.”
The co-op’s technology of choice is known as “fiber-to-the-home.” It targets hard-to-reach “last mile” consumers by delivering communications signals over optical fiber from the operator’s switching equipment to a home or business.
“We’ve tried to do wireless, but it worked for only one out of four consumers,” Strode explained, adding that the area’s abundance of hardwood trees also hurt reliability.
The May 19 rollout will likely be the first of many involving co-ops that have won broadband stimulus grants from RUS to build a fiber optic network. In all, 10 co-ops and two tribal authorities have been awarded grants and loans totaling more than $200 million through the stimulus bill.