MADISON, Wis. (Oct. 14, 2013)—TDS Telecommunications Corp. (TDS®) announces part of its American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus-funded broadband Internet project in Cass County, around Hackensack and Backus, Minn., is now accessible to some residents and businesses.
Construction on the stimulus-funded project will continue and should wrap up by the end of the year. Once complete, about 900 residents in Cass County will have access to a high-speed Internet connection. This includes customers living around Pequot Lakes, Pine River, Graf, Swanburg, and Oshawa.
Nearly 90 miles of fiber optics cabling is being installed and 19 cabinets (which protect the advanced network electronics) are being placed throughout TDS’ Arvig Telephone Company exchange to provide high-speed Internet access to more households and businesses. TDS will alert customers when the service is accessible.
TDS is receiving funding for 44 projects, including this one in Minnesota, from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) as part of the ARRA.
Nationwide, more than 95 percent of TDS customers already have access to high-speed Internet service. TDS is intent on providing as many remaining customers with broadband connectivity as possible. According to TDS, federal stimulus funds are helping to close the gap and deliver Internet connectivity to more than 20,000 customers.
For background information and updates, visit www.tdstelecom.com/stimulus.
