Kalona Cooperative Telephone Company is getting almost $2 million dollars to expand fiber optic broadband service in Washington County.
KCTC General Manager Casey Peck says the “Empower Rural Broadband Grant” will help cover about 35% of the cost for a 5-year project to connect over 300 households to a future-proof fiber network. Peck says they were surprised to receive the full award of their grant application, “Our expectation was, alright we’ll try for it, but we may not get it all with only $4.5 million dollars throughout the whole state of Iowa, it seemed unrealistic that we get what we were asking for because that would be about 39% of the program grant dollars that were awarded and so, when we got, it was like a Christmas gift because we got word of it December 23rd so we had to be careful about saying anything about it until recently here.”
High school seniors can apply for scholarships by March 5 and April 16.
Written By:
News Staff | ×
Arvig is now accepting applications for two different scholarships to be awarded to area high school seniors graduating in 2021.
The first scholarship is with the Foundation for Rural Service and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association. FRS awards graduating high school seniors across rural America with $2,000 scholarships. Arvig contributes an additional $500 for a $2,500 award for scholarship winners who are sponsored by Arvig.
The deadline for FRS scholarship applications is March 5.
To be eligible applicants must:
Be a current senior graduating high school in 2021.
Be accepted by an accredited two or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school.
9 & 10 News
February 18, 2021
Congressman John Moolenaar visited Mid-Michigan College in Harrison Thursday morning to talk about a new broadband legislation called the Boost Act.
The Boost Act would create a refundable tax credit of up to $300 for homeowners to purchase mobile hotspots or to boost their current device to increase speed.
The legislation would cover areas not already covered by other federal broadband programs.
Congressman Moolenaar says the legislation would especially help with broadband access for families in mid and northern Michigan.
“I think the pandemic has really brought this to a greater understanding for the need for this; whether families are trying to have their children educated, kids are in the school parking lot doing their homework to access the internet,” says Congressman Moolenaar.