Blair, Nebraska, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Great Plains Communications (GPC), a growing Midwestern regional telecommunications provider, will utilize $8.9 million in funding under the Remote Access Rural Broadband Grant program to bring high-speed internet connectivity to seven rural Nebraska communities.
The broadband grant opportunity made possible by federal CARES Act funding, including $1.08 billion of Coronavirus Relief funds allocated to the State of Nebraska, was announced by the DED last spring. The grants target areas of the state that are currently classified as unserved or underserved, based on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) standard of 25/3 Mbps. download/upload internet speeds.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasized the need for access to high-speed broadband services to work, learn and access healthcare remotely,” said Todd Foje, CEO of Great Plains Communications. “We are thankful this funding was made available by Governor Ricketts in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, and are excited to help deploy fiber into these rural communities, ensuring residents and businesses have access to fast, reliable services that allow them to work and learn more efficiently in a safe environment.”
Great Plains Communications was awarded $8.9 million of this funding to bring Fiber to the Home (FTTH) delivered internet to the following seven areas:
- Callaway, $650,753 for 384 housing units
- Creighton, $1,707,081 for 748 housing units
- Deshler, $744,641 for 475 housing units
- Gordon, $1,507,733 for 1,009 housing units
- North Bend, $1,142,709 for 768 housing units
- Red Cloud, $2,018,372 for 796 housing units
- Sutherland, $1,134,424 for 608 housing units
GPC will supplement the awarded amounts with $1.4 million of its own funds, in addition to connecting these communities to its robust regional fiber optic backbone network.
Construction began in September of 2020 and once complete, download speeds up to 1 Gbps. will be available to homes and businesses in these communities. This level of speed will allow residents and business owners to operate multiple devices simultaneously without lag or interruption, work and learn remotely and stream content with the highest level of speed and reliability.
About Great Plains Communications
Great Plains Communications is one of the largest privately-owned telecommunications providers in the Midwest and is headquartered in Blair, Nebraska. They have over a century of experience providing business and residential customers in over 200 Indiana and Nebraska communities with forward-thinking, fiber-based technology services including high-speed internet, Ethernet, video, hosted and traditional voice solutions. The company also takes pride in its progressive approach to accommodating the unique needs of all regional and national telecommunications carriers, LECs, ISPs, wireless carriers and other service providers utilizing superior engineering and custom-build strategies. At the core of its service offering is an extensive, MEF-certified 13,500-mile regional fiber network that reaches 11 states: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. The network offers community access rings, last-mile and middle-mile solutions, all fully supported by the company’s 24x7x365 Network Operations Center. For more information visit www.gpcom.com.