OKLAHOMA CITY – More than $420 million in federal funds will be spent to provide high-speed internet access for residents and businesses in unserved and underserved areas of Oklahoma.
The Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding recently recommended that the full Legislature approve $389.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding for broadband buildout and workforce training. Proposals the panel endorsed included:
• Office projects: $382.1 million for buildout of broadband infrastructure across the state.
• Career technology: $5 million for career tech centers to add classes that train a broadband workforce.
• Oklahoma State University-Information Technology: $365,068 for a training program to help with broadband workforce training.
• Broadband Office: $500,000 for administrative costs to support establishment of the office.
• Broadband mapping: $2 million to finish a map that the Oklahoma Department of Commerce has been building over the last several years.
State lawmakers and Gov. Kevin Stitt approved legislation this year to create a temporary broadband office at the state level. Their goal is to extend high-speed internet to 95% of Oklahomans within the next five years.
“Improving broadband access, especially in rural areas, is essential for progress in our modern world,” said Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle. “From improving our kids’ education to health care outcomes and even agriculture, broadband touches every aspect of life.”
In a related matter, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will award more than $31 million to provide high-speed internet access for rural residents and businesses in seven Oklahoma counties.
In the USDA announcement, Kenneth Corn, Oklahoma’s rural development director who is a former state legislator and most recently was the city manager of Anadarko, recognized how the federal award money will benefit rural areas in the state.
“Access to broadband will strengthen the ability of rural communities to prosper by expanding the opportunity to allow businesses to grow, expand access to critical health care, open the doors to educational programs and lessen the barrier for transportation on some of our rural residents,” he said.
Counties that will receive rural broadband assistance from the USDA funding include Comanche, Caddo, Cotton, Grady, Choctaw, McCurtain and Osage.
The USDA specified how the $31 million will be used:
• Southern Plains Cable LLC – a member of the Hilliary family of companies, as is the Southwest Ledger – will deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network that will connect 7,093 people, 230 businesses, six farms and 29 schools to high-speed internet in Comanche, Cotton, Caddo and Grady counties.
This project will serve the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache and Fort Sill Apache tribal statistical area, as well as socially vulnerable communities in Cotton County, Corn said.
According to the USDA, Southern Plains will make high-speed internet affordable by participating in the Federal Communication Commission’s Affordable Connectivity and Lifeline programs.
• Valliant Telephone Co. will deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network that will connect 200 people, 16 businesses and one educational facility to high-speed internet in Choctaw and McCurtain counties in southeastern Oklahoma.
• The Osage Nation will deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network to connect 831 people, 18 businesses and 128 farms to high-speed internet in Osage County.
The two private companies and the Native American tribe will receive the federal money through the USDA’s ReConnect program, which helps connect Oklahoma residents, businesses and farms to high-speed internet.
ReConnect offers federal loans and grants to state and local governments, Indian tribes and corporations to build broadband infrastructure and provide high-speed internet access to rural communities, Corn related.