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Dirt is moving on TDS ARRA stimulus projects(ENP Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ENP Newswire - 16 July 2012 Release date- 13072012 - Fourteen TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS) ARRA stimulus projects in nine states are getting underway. Once complete, more than 9,400 households will have access to a high-speed Internet connection. 'Dirt is moving,' stated Larry Boehm, director of Network Implementation and Optimization for TDS. 'Construction is underway on seven of our projects and another seven are scheduled to start in the coming weeks. We'll be burying 1,300 miles of fiber and copper to deliver the high-speed Internet services our customers are waiting for. This is an exciting time for us, and for our customers.' Digging is already underway on seven projects including: Alabama: Butler Telephone Company, Inc. {areas around Grove Hill} Michigan: Chatham Telephone Company {areas surrounding Au Train, Chatham, Sand River, Skandia, Trenary} Missouri: Orchard Farm Telephone Co. {areas to the north, east, south of Orchard Farm} Wisconsin: Badger Telecom, LLC {areas just north and south of Granton; areas surrounding (not including) Neillsville; area north of Greenwood} Central State Telephone Company, LLC {area east of Nekoosa; area north of New Lisbon; areas east, west and south of Vesper; areas south and east of Junction City} Stockbridge & Sherwood Telephone Company, LLC {an area around Tisch Mills; an area just east of Hilbert} The Farmers Telephone Company, LLC {area including Glen Haven; area north of Cassville; area north of Beetown; an area west of Dickeyville} NOTE: click for maps detailing areas where high-speed Internet services will be expanded By the end of July, digging will be underway on the following seven projects: Colorado: Delta County Tele-Comm, Inc. {areas around Bowie and Somerset; just south of Cedaredge; south of Hotchkiss; and east/west of Crawford} Indiana: Home Telephone Company, Inc. {areas just to the east and west of Geneva} Idaho: Potlatch Telephone Company {areas impacted are north of Howell and to the east, south, and west of Kendrick} Mississippi: Calhoun City Telephone Company {areas surrounding Calhoun City, Slate Springs, and Vardaman} Minnesota: Arvig Telephone Company {areas impacted are near Hackensack, Backus, Pine River, Pequot Lakes, Swanburg, and Graf} Wisconsin: Midway Telephone Company, LLC, Wis. {areas around Medford} UTELCO, LLC, Wis. {areas around Monroe} NOTE: click for maps detailing areas where high-speed Internet services will be expanded TDS is receiving funding for the project from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Background: In February 2009, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; it was signed by President Obama shortly after passage. In August 2009, TDS submitted 13 applications for broadband funding. In December 2009 and January 2010, TDS was awarded two grants totaling $12.5 million from the RUS (one of the two federal agencies administering the federal broadband stimulus program) to expand broadband access in Chatham, Mich. and Butler, Ala. In March 2010, TDS submitted 46 applications for round two funding consideration. In August, TDS was awarded 42 grants (including the four Ind. projects and the Mich. project) bringing the company's total awards to 44 and nearly $136 million to expand high-speed Internet services in 20 states. Engineering firms were selected and announced in February 2011, and now pre-bid meetings are taking place. Construction on many sites will begin this spring. Most networks will be completed in 2012 and the remaining in 2013. For background information and updates, visit www.tdstelecom.com/MediaRoom/StimulusFunding. TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS) is the seventh largest telecom provider in the U.S. For more than 40 years, the company has been connecting people with high-speed Internet, phone, and TV entertainment services in hundreds of rural, suburban, and metropolitan communities across 31 states. Today, TDS has more than 1.1 million equivalent access lines in service and 2,700 employees. Business customers select from the latest technologies, including: VoIP (managedIP) phone service, dedicated Internet, data networking, and hosted-managed services. Visit www.tdstelecom.com or www.tdsbusiness.com for more information. TDS Telecommunications Corp. also manages the operations of VISI Incorporated, TEAM Technologies, OneNeck IT Services Corp., and Vital Support Systems through TDS Hosted & Managed Services, LLC. These companies employ more than 500 people, who specialize in engineering and management of IT infrastructure, including: hosted application management, managed hosting, enterprise cloud services, and Tier III data centers. Visit: www.visi.com, www.team-companies.com, www.oneneck.com, and www.vitalsupport.com for details. TDS Telecommunications Corp. headquartered in Madison, Wis. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. [NYSE: TDS]. A Fortune 500 company, Telephone and Data Systems provides wireless, local and long-distance telephone and broadband services to approximately 7 million customers in 36 states through TDS Telecommunications Corp. and U.S. Cellular [NYSE: USM], its majority owned wireless subsidiary. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Chicago, Telephone and Data Systems employed 12,300 people as of March 31, 2012. Visit www.teldta.com for investor information. For more information contact: Cindy Tomlinson, Associate Manager-Public Relations / TDS Telecommunications Corp. / 608-664-4471 / [email protected] [Editorial queries for this story should be sent to [email protected]] ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) (c) 2012 Electronic News Publishing - |