U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and Oklahoma State Director Kenneth Corn announced in Lawton, Okla., with Dustin Hilliary, CEO of Hilliary Communications, that more than $33 million in grants to connect thousands of rural residents, farmers and business owners across rural Oklahoma to affordable high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This program is uniquely designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are the most rural, remote and unserved communities.
Connecting all communities across the United States to high-speed internet is a central part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to rebuild the economy from the bottom up and middle out by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. This investment assists Hilliary Communications subsidiaries at Oklahoma Western Telephone Company, Medicine Park Telephone Company, Texoma Fiber and Southern Plains Cable.
“High-speed internet is a key priority of President Biden, because he believes that no matter where you live you should have access to the internet,” Corn said. “What we found out during the pandemic is that when you don’t have access to the internet your family was left behind in healthcare, education, and financial services. This is a way for us to truly transform rural Oklahoma to cover those gaps in in critical needs for our communities.”
Many residents and businesses in rural areas would not have high-speed internet service without the ReConnect Program, as the program is a key part of the Administration’s Internet for All initiative to connect everyone in America to high-speed internet by 2030.
“President Biden has continued to prove that he is delivering on his promise to transform America and rebuild our economy with American ingenuity,” Corn said. “Thanks to our broadband partners across the state like Hilliary Communications, we can build out capability for high-speed internet in areas that currently lack service. This will allow rural Oklahoma communities to be able to compete again as a place to live and allow others to relook at how they view living and working in rural Oklahoma.”
USDA Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. To learn more, visit https://www.rd.usda.gov/ok.