North Dakota received $45 million in American Rescue Plan coronavirus aid to boost broadband infrastructure in the state and awarding to service providers has begun.
The awarded Capital Project Fund Grants will build out high speed fiber optic broadband networks in the western most part of the state. This represents some of the most rural parts of North Dakota averaging 1 subscriber per fiber mile. These funds will be used to build Fiber To The Premise (FTTP) networks to homes and businesses of which approximately 1/2 are currently classified as unserved by the federal broadband service classification.
Construction is expected to start in the spring of 2023 with projects completing in 2024.
"North Dakota is excited to continue driving high speed reliable broadband service out to our residents and businesses," said Craig Felchle, Chief Technology Officer. "This is a great example of us continuing to work with telecommunications partners to further broadband efforts in North Dakota."
NDIT received 12 applications from 8 different service providers with a requested amount of almost $38M. Of the proposed projects, 16 critical communities of North Dakota are being addressed with over 11,000 miles of fiber install.
The focus of this program is to build a broadband infrastructure designed to deliver service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical speeds of 100Mbps so that communities have future-proof infrastructure to serve their long-term needs.
For questions regarding the grant program use email address broadband@nd.gov
Categories: North Dakota, Business, Government & Policy