USDA Provides $6 Million to Expand Broadband Infrastructure for Two Rural Oregon Counties

The Department of Agriculture is providing $6 million to expand high-speed broadband infrastructure that will provide e-Connectivity for nearly 650 new customers in rural Wheeler and Grant counties. Oregon Telephone Corporation (OTC) will use a ReConnect Program grant to deploy 89 miles of fiber to serve some of the most remote areas of the continental United States. The new broadband infrastructure will provide network speeds ranging from 30 megabits per second (Mbps) to 1 gigabyte per second (Gbps). The network will allow Voice-Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and video services to be delivered to each customer. Currently, many areas around the town of John Day lack internet service faster than 1.5 Mbps. In a public-private partnership with John Day in its capacity as the leader of the intergovernmental Grant County Digital Network Coalition, OTC is working to provide the fastest internet access to as many residents at the lowest price possible. Under the partnership, OTC will build a fiber network and deliver broadband service to residents and businesses while leasing infrastructure to John Day to provide service to public agencies. The first new fiber route is northwest of John Day. It will connect the towns of Long Creek, Monument and Spray. The second route will start at the northern edge of the town of Seneca and continue to Canyon City, just south of John Day. Overall, this expanded fiber optic network will extend broadband across a 242-square-mile area that includes 418 households, 22 businesses, 22 farms, three schools and two fire stations. Almost 650 new customers will be able to receive reliable access to high-speed internet services, improving the quality of life for those who live and work in these remote, rural communities.