Home Local News BROADBAND EXPANSION PROJECT COMPLETED IN SIOUX COUNTY

BROADBAND EXPANSION PROJECT COMPLETED IN SIOUX COUNTY

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A major upgrade to internet access in parts of rural northwest Iowa has been completed.

The 13-million dollar project added 422 miles of fiber optics between several communities, including Hawarden and Akron.

The project was made possible with a “Re-Connect” grant of more than 7-million dollars from the U-S-D-A.

Bette Brand, Deputy Undersecretary for Rural Development, joined  Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg and others in Hawarden on Wednesday, seeing the results of the upgrade first-hand:

OC……….”high speed broadband” :09

Lieutenant Governor Gregg announced that Governor Kim Reynolds is designating 50-million dollars in CARES Act money to increase access to high speed broadband in rural Iowa.

He says connectivity is important in attracting jobs and young people to Iowa:

OC……..that they be connected :19

Doug Boone, C-E-O of Premiere Communications in Sioux Center, says this matches with his company’s vision and his hope is to bring this connectivity to Lyon County soon.

Boone says the five-month turnaround on the project didn’t come without challenges;

OC………..”that investment” :13

Boone says most or the 12-hundred customers will be receiving high speed broadband internet service within four months.

The fiber optics also reach into parts of Union and Lincoln counties in South Dakota.

Pictures by Dennis Morrice