[July 28, 2011] Telephone co-op gets federal loan for rural broadband service [Independent Record, Helena, Mont.] Tweet (Independent Record (Helena, MT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 28--A Montana telephone cooperative landed a $70 million federal loan Wednesday that will enable it to expand high-speed Internet and television service into rural, north-central Montana and two towns in southwest Montana. The loan, one of eight announced by the U.S. Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service (RUS), was awarded to 3 Rivers Telephone Cooperative of Fairfield. "This will help push out broadband to rural Montana with fiber to the home," said Mike Henning, 3 River's interim general manager. "It helps the ranchers, it helps the farmers; it helps rural Montana. ... It will keep the rural economy going." The $70 million loan to 3 Rivers is more than three times the next-largest loan announced Wednesday. The co-op plans to use the money to install 1,700 miles of fiber-optic cable that will bring high-speed Internet to 4,700 households, 500 businesses and 82 "critical community organizations," such as hospitals, libraries, schools and public-safety departments. Currently 3 Rivers has about 17,000 customers. Most of the towns receiving the upgraded service are near Great Falls, including Augusta, Fort Shaw, Raynesford, Dupuyer and Geyser. Ennis and Big Sky, in southwest Montana, also will see upgrades in software-driven switches that enable faster broadband services. Henning said the work will start this fall at Power, north of Great Falls, and then expand to the rest of the sites within five years. Most homes in these areas have access to Internet service, but of limited speed. The new lines will increase those speeds to what urban dwellers can get via cable Internet, and the co-op also plans to introduce a new, digital television service that is carried over the fiber-optic lines, he added. The cost for consumers won't be changing, Henning said. The co-op currently charges about $50 a month for its highest-speed Internet service. The $70 million loan is not part of the Obama administration's broadband stimulus program that awarded funds to finance several rural Montana broadband projects within the past year. Rather, it's part of USDA's telecommunications infrastructure loan program, which aims to add thousands of miles of cable to the telecom grid in rural America. "A significant portion of America still does not have adequate broadband for job and economic development activities," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday in a statement. "We've made a good start, but it is clear that the work of the Obama administration and USDA is far from done." RUS is awarding $609 million nationwide in loans this year for broadband projects, on top of $3.5 billion in stimulus funds for similar projects last year. Besides the 3 Rivers loan, RUS announced loans Wednesday for co-ops and small telecom companies in Oregon, Washington, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Wisconsin and Texas. ___ To see more of the Independent Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.helenair.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Independent Record, Helena, Mont. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]