Big RDOF Winner Nextlink Internet Buys Nebraska Fiber Operator

Nextlink Internet, which was one of the top 10 winners in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) rural broadband funding auction, has purchased most of the assets of Bluestem Network, a fiber broadband provider based in Lancaster and Seward Counties in Nebraska. Nextlink said it plans on using Bluestem’s assets as “a base to continue growing our fiber internet presence across southeast Nebraska.” Nextlink is already deploying fiber in nearby Gage County. The company has five local office locations in Nebraska and more than 60 employees in the state. Nextlink won over $400 million in the RDOF program, which used a reverse auction to award funding for an area to the company that committed to deploying broadband for the lowest level of support. The company plans to use a combination of fixed wireless and fiber broadand for its RDOF-funded deployments to support speeds up to 1 Gbps.