10.22.14

Hoeven Announces $4.5 Million in USDA Rural Telecom Loans to Establish, Expand Broadband Service

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded Telecommunications Infrastructure loans totaling more than $4.5 million to North Dakota rural telecommunications providers to establish and expand broadband service to rural areas of Stutsman, Morton and Oliver counties.

Earlier this year, Hoeven wrote to USDA Broadband Division Director Kenneth Kuchno in support of BEK’s and Daktel’s applications for the loans.

“North Dakota has enjoyed significant economic growth in recent years thanks to our pro-business legal, tax, and regulatory environment,” Hoeven wrote. “Part of that success comes from making the right kind of investments in our infrastructure that helps sustain this growth over the long-term. As you well understand, Internet access is a vital tool for improving our citizens’ quality of life by giving them better access to education, health care, and commerce services and helping them keep pace with the modern, global economy.”

BEK Communications Cooperative will receive a loan of $2,136,045 to establish a fiber-to-the-premises network that will provide broadband service in northeast Morton County and southeast Oliver County, which are currently unserved. Daktel Communication, LLC will be awarded $2,370,354 to establish a fiber-to-the-home network that will provide broadband service in an unserved rural area of Stutsman County.

 “Broadband access means access to the world for both personal and commercial users in rural North Dakota,” said Hoeven. “It will open new opportunities and enable rural North Dakota businesses and residents to participate in the larger economic growth our state is now experiencing.”