Fatbeam E-Rate Strategy Fuels Fiber Expansion in Four Mountain West States

Fatbeam E-Rate plans will help the competitive access provider build out wide-area fiber network infrastructure in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

The broadband access provider won 11 FCC E-rate contracts, which will help fund the construction of an additional 200 miles of fiber. Once completed, Fatbeam will be able to offer high capacity gigabit fiber Internet connectivity to communities across the four-state area, including in Idaho, where it has signed an agreement with Lake Pend Oreille School District in Sandpoint to build a 49-mile fiber optic network capable of delivering 2-gigabit lit fiber services to the school district’s 13 facilities. Fatbeam is very active in the E-rate and uses it as a tool to further its business model. Key to the project development process for Fatbeam is signing agreements with school districts that serve as anchor tenants. Once these networks are built, Fatbeam leverages additional broadband capacity to expand network access and traffic to other local organizations and facilities, such as hospitals, banks and local government offices, as well as other broadband carriers and ISPs.