Broadband Stimulus Program Funds Fiber
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BroadbandBroadband StimulusStimulus ProgramProgram FundsFunds FiberFiber The final broadband stimulus awards were announced just ahead of the statutory deadline. Lots of new and interesting fiber builds are in the works. By Masha Zager ■ Broadband Properties he two federal agencies responsible for disbursing institutional networks; though few NTIA projects will con- broadband stimulus funds have now completed their nect homes or businesses with broadband in the short run, Tawards, and awardees are starting to plan and build they should make bandwidth more affordable in existing their projects. Although we and others have noted that some broadband networks and should also make new, privately of the money is being spent on dead-end technology, overall funded broadband builds more economically feasible. The these programs should improve broadband access and op- NTIA grants may well be “gifts that keep on giving,” and tions for many Americans. we look forward to seeing their effects. The Rural Utilities Service, which focused on first- In this Fiber Deployment Roundup, we not only list the mile projects, is funding many fiber-to-the-home builds, final awards to FTTH projects and report on awardees’ vendor large and small, that will help to rapidly bring disadvan- selections, but we also profile several awardees, showing what taged communities into the 21st-century knowledge econ- their projects will mean for their communities. omy. The National Telecommunications and Informa- tion Administration focused on middle-mile projects and – MZ Final RUS Awards for FTTH Projects The final batches of RUS broadband stimulus awards included several went to rural electric cooperatives, and there were also wireless, DSL, satellite and cable technologies, along with a siz- four awards for countywide or multicounty public broadband able helping of fiber. Projects that include FTTH are shown networks. Though many awardees had prior experience with below. Most awards went to the small rural telcos that are FTTH, quite a few appear to be embarking on their first fiber traditional recipients of RUS broadband funding. However, builds. (See earlier issues of BBP for more RUS awards.) Provider State Amount Potential Subscribers Prior ($ millions)* FTTH? Arrowhead Electric Cooperative MN $16.1 11,363 residents, 138 businesses, 63 community www.aecimn.com institutions Cass County MO $26.0 25,900 residents, 710 businesses, 118 community www.casscounty.com institutions Cedar Falls Utilities** IA $0.9 1,753 residents, 259 businesses in 89 square miles x www.cfu.net outside existing territory Cross Telephone Company** OK $17.6 52,000 residents, 4,180 businesses, 111 community x www.crosstel.net institutions Five Area Telephone Cooperative TX $2.5 498 residents, 235 businesses, 1 community institution x www.fivearea.com Hill Country Telephone Cooperative** TX $12.2 4,200 residents x www.hctc.net 22 | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | www.broadbandproperties.com | OCTOBER 2010 Provider State Amount Potential Subscribers Prior ($ millions)* FTTH? Kit Carson Electric Cooperative NM $63.8 20,500 households, 3,600 businesses, 183 community www.kitcarson.com institutions, two Native American Pueblos La Jicarita Rural Telephone Cooperative NM $11.9 3,000 residents, 40 businesses, 8 community institutions www.lajicarita.com Lake County MN $66.4 37,000 residents, 1,000 businesses, 98 community www.co.lake.mn.us institutions LENOWISCO Planning District Commission/ VA $20.2 42,000 residents, 1,550 businesses, 100 community x Sunset Digital Communications institutions www.lenowisco.org Medicine Park Telephone Company OK, TX $3.0 4,500 residents, 3 businesses, 30 community institutions x www.mptelco.com Midstate Communications SD $9.1 3,715 residents, 176 businesses, 28 community x www.midstatesd.net institutions Midvale Telephone AZ, ID $4.5 1,400 residents, 130 businesses, 7 community x Exchange institutions www.midvaletelephone.com North Alabama Electric Cooperative AL $19.1 20,120 residents, 1,442 businesses, 53 community www.naecoop.com institutions Orangeburg County SC $18.7 9,078 residents, 90 businesses, 12 community www.orangeburgcounty.org institutions Pioneer Telephone Cooperative OK $35.9 9,800 residents, 160 businesses, 5 community x www.ptci.com institutions Plains Cooperative Telephone Association CO $11.1 2,740 residents, 272 businesses, 42 community www.plainstel.com institutions Pride Network LA $36.2 25,243 residents, 2,978 businesses, 172 community x www.xfone.com institutions Red River Rural Telephone Association ND, $9.1 2,600 residents, 228 businesses, 6 community x www.rrt.net MN institutions Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe NY $10.6 3,750 residents, 200 businesses, 42 community www.srmt-nsn.gov institutions Scott County Telephone Cooperative VA $24.9 12,000 residents, 80 businesses, 16 community x www.sctc.org institutions Sjoberg’s Cable MN $.9 656 residents, 15 businesses, many small farms, 3 x www.mncable.net community institutions Smithville Telephone Company** MS $7.1 1,795 residents, 15 businesses, 5 community institutions x www.smithville.net Southwest Telephone Exchange IA $6.0 1,468 residents, 55 businesses, 9 community institutions x www.interstatecom.com Spruce Knob Seneca Rocks Telephone WV $8.5 6,378 residents, 207 businesses, 23 community x www.spruceknob.net institutions Stoneham Cooperative Telephone CO $1.6 155 residents, 9 businesses, 4 community institutions Corporation 970-735-2251 Sunset Digital Communications TN $24.5 27,500 residents, 471 businesses, 65 community x (with www.sunsetcom.net institutions LENOWISCO Planning Commission) Trans-Cascades Telephone Company OR $2.4 340 residents, 46 businesses, 3 community institutions x www.relianceconnects.com Tri-County Telephone Membership Corp. NC $14.1 10,780 residents, 889 businesses, 32 community x www.gotricounty.biz/ institutions United Electric Cooperative MO $21.2 www.ueci.org OCTOBER 2010 | www.broadbandproperties.com | BROADBAND PROPERTIES | 23 Provider State Amount Potential Subscribers Prior ($ millions)* FTTH? Waitsfield-Fayston Telephone Company VT $5.6 1,385 residents, 56 businesses, 2 community institutions x www.wcvt.com Willard Telephone Company CO $0.8 1,900 residents, 8 businesses, 3 community institutions 970-228-4571 Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership NC $21.7 12,803 residents, 606 businesses, 56 community x Corporation institutions www.yadtel.net * May be supplemented by funding from other sources **Includes wireless or DSL technology as well as FTTH INDEPENDENT TELCOS Stimulus Funding Recipients Select Vendors Yadkin Valley Telephone Membership Corporation in North Carolina will use Broadband loans and grants will allow rural Zhone’s MXK intelligent GPON solu- tion and its zNID optical network termi- telcos to accelerate their plans for deploying fiber nals (ONTs) for its broadband stimulus- funded project. Since 2007, Yadkin has to homes and businesses. passed more than 16,000 homes and businesses with fiber – 42 percent of the premises within its footprint – and, with project. Shawnee was awarded $8.5 mil- FTTP network in the rural Morris, the help of the RUS grant and loan, it lion in federal and state funds to connect Minn., exchange, and Farmers Tele- will now be able to reach the rural por- homes, businesses, government offices phone Company received $9.7 million tions of its service area more quickly. and medical facilities in one of the na- to build out fiber facilities and services “One of the initial goals for our tion’s most remote and underserved re- to rural parts of its serving area. Both FTTH project was to reach all custom- gions. Long distances between commu- Federated and Farmers will deploy ers within our regional footprint with nities and a dispersed population have GENBAND’s C15 to increase network fiber-based triple-play services by 2019,” posed challenges in bringing broadband capacity, improve efficiency, lower costs explains Mitzie Branon, Yadkin’s gen- access to the 90 Illinois communities and deliver advanced IP residential and eral manager. “However, with the re- that Shawnee serves. With Zhone’s plat- business communications services. Tom ceipt of the broadband stimulus funding form, Shawnee can use a combination Lorenz, operations manager of Federated and the support of Zhone as our GPON of broadband technologies, including Telephone Cooperative, says small and partner, we will be able to overcome the GPON and ADSL2+, to provide high- medium business customers will now be anticipated cost challenges and time- speed access to even the most rural loca- able to install unified communications, to-market requirements for the rural tions in a cost-effective manner. hosted call centers and videoconferenc- fiber extension and complete our entire Halstad Telephone Company ing capabilities without having to invest FTTH project by 2015 – which is four (HTC), Federated Telephone Coop- in managing equipment on premises. years earlier than initially planned.” erative and Farmers Mutual Tele- NTELOS, which received a broad- Brian Caskey, chief marketing officer phone Company have all selected band stimulus grant to build out FTTH for Zhone, says the broadband stimulus GENBAND’s C15 compact softswitch to 9,000 premises, will use ADTRAN’s initiative has accounted for an uptick in to help deliver services over fiber. HTC, flagship product, the Total Access 5000 the number of fiber projects the com- which received $11.7 million in broad- Multi-Service Access and Aggregation pany has been asked to support. band stimulus funds, deployed the C15 Platform (MSAP)