Yellowstone Fiber looks to BEAD, ARPA to speed Montana broadband build

Yellowstone Fiber already has $65 million in private funding in hand to build an open access network in Montana, but is now seeking to tap into millions more in federal funding to accelerate the pace of its rollout. Formerly known as Bozeman Fiber, the operator teamed with UTOPIA Fiber in late 2021 and announced plans to deliver fiber to more than 20,000 locations across the city of Bozeman, Montana. It subsequently rebranded as Yellowstone Fiber and kicked off construction in February 2022. The company's original deployment plan would’ve seen it start work in the city’s urban core and fuel deployments in more rural areas using subscriber revenue generated by those initial rollouts. By tapping into federal funding provided to the state via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Yellowstone Fiber could reach those rural areas two to three years faster than originally expected. Thus far, Yellowstone has applied for $10 million in ARPA funding through the state’s ConnectMT program. Yellowstone wants to use the funding to cover 15 unserved and 1,522 underserved locations in Gallatin County. Cable operator Charter Communications is also seeking funding for Gallatin County, requesting more than $11 million to cover 63 unserved locations and 2,111 underserved locations across the county within a 23 month timeframe.