Yesterday, the Oregon Broadband Office announced more than $24 million in broadband grants. The funding is part of the state’s Broadband Deployment Program (BDP), part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s (ARPA) COVID Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
This third and final round of ARPA funding in Oregon will connect 2,360 locations to 100 Mbps symmetrical broadband in three Oregon counties.
The announcement, from the Oregon Broadband Office — which is part of Business Oregon — says the state’s broadband map will be updated to reflect the new grants.
The providers and the grants they will receive are as follows:
- Oregon Telephone Corporation, “Two County Regional Fiber Connectivity Link and Last Mile Build”: $12.9 million for 570 locations in Baker and Malheur counties
- Hunter Communications and Technologies LLC, “Shady Cove and Trail Oregon”: $5.6 million for 1,366 locations in Jackson County
- Pine Telephone System, “Vale Regional Link Expansion”: $6.4 million for 424 locations in Malheur County
According to the announcement, most of the locations served by this round of Oregon broadband grants are unserved, meaning they have access to internet service of less than 25/3 Mbps.
The Oregon Broadband Office also offered an update on the state’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program progress, announcing that “25 potential BEAD applicants have been prequalified.” These applicants may proceed to the Scoring Phase of the Oregon BEAD Program, which will occur from April 22 to May 22.
Additional information about broadband in Oregon, including links to state funding resources and grants, BEAD news, awards made, state-specific Telecompetitor coverage, and more can be found on the Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
