Empowering the World's Broadband

Report on Rural Broadband Strategy by the FCC

Numerous RUS programs have already started to increase rural broadband deployment. For example, as early as 2004, RUS began to work with International Broadband Electric Communications, Inc. (IBEC) in Huntsville, Alabama, to fund deployment of broadband solutions in a number of rural locations. As a result, residents in the targeted communities will be able, many for the first time, to access the Internet at speeds of up to 5 Mbps. Another company that has successfully worked with the RUS is Rural Telephone Service Co. (Rural Telephone), a Lenora, Kansas-based incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC) that began working with the RUS shortly after its incorporation in 1951. Rural Telephone has used RUS funding to become an operator of 29 exchanges in a rural area that averages two households per square mile. Through its competitive LEC affiliate, Nex-Tech, Rural Telephone also has used RUS funding to deploy fiber to the home infrastructure in neighboring towns. In many cases, Nex-Tech is bringing broadband to customers for the very first time.

To view the entire report, visit http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-291012A1.pdf (PDF, 2.1 MB)

Posted in News on 2009-05-29.