Round 2 of the USDA ReConnect Program invested an additional $46 million in 10 projects in seven states over the past few days. The investments, which all are for fiber-to-the premise networks, bring the USDA ReConnect Round 2 total to $615,969,825.
The second round of the program surpassed its initial budget of $550 million with a spate of announcements during the past week or so. The program is able to award more funding than its budget calls for because some awards are made as loans that generate interest that can help fund additional awards.
In the most recent spate of announcements, there were multiple awards in Iowa and Oklahoma, single state awards in Kentucky, New York and Colorado and a two-state award in North Dakota and Montana.
USDA ReConnect Round 2 awards in Iowa:
- Osage Municipal Utilities will use a $368,000 grant to deploy a network connecting 397 people, 27 farms, 14 businesses and a post office in Mitchell County.
- C-M-L Telephone Cooperative Association will use a $744,000 grant to deploy a last-mile network connecting three farms that were bypassed by a middle-mile deployment in Cherokee County.
- Citizens Mutual Telephone Cooperative will use a $731,500 grant to deploy a fiber network connecting 941 people, 40 farms and seven businesses in Wapello County.
In Oklahoma:
- Cross Cable Television LLC will use a $15.8 million grant to connect 2,815 people, 125 farms, nine businesses, one educational facility and a fire department in Haskell and Muskogee counties.
- Pine Telephone Company Inc. will use a $6.9 million grant to deploy network to connect 2,099 people, 82 farms, 30 businesses, two fire stations, a post office and a public school to high-speed broadband internet in Atoka County.
- Medicine Park Telephone Company will use a $3.7 million loan to deploy network to connect 1,082 people, 21 farms and 16 businesses to high-speed broadband internet in Comanche County.
The single state USDA ReConnect Round 2 awards:
- In Kentucky, Peoples Telecom LLC will use a $2.4 million grant and a $2.4 million loan to deploy a network connecting 1,618 people, 25 businesses, two farms, a public school, a post office and a fire station in Rockcastle, Perry, Breathitt and Lee counties.
- In New York, Seneca Telecommunications LLC will use a $544,000 grant to deploy a network to connect 928 people, five farms and a business to high-speed broadband internet in Cattaraugus, Erie and Chautauqua counties. This network will serve the Cattaraugus Reservation of the Seneca Nation.
- In Colorado, the Yampa Valley Electric Association will use a $6 million grant to connect 553 people, 27 farms, 27 businesses and three post offices in Moffat, Rio Blanco, Routt, Grand and Eagle counties.
Finally, the cross-state USDA ReConnect Round 2 award:
- Reservation Telephone Cooperative will use a $6.9 million ReConnect grant to connect 1,413 people, 104 farms, 49 businesses, a public school and a fire station in Dawson, Richland and Wibaux counties in Montana and McKenzie County in North Dakota.
