(Portland, Ore., February 27, 2026) – U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Oregon State Director Jim Carmack today announced the agency is awarding a $1,907,000 loan to Eagle Telephone System, Inc. to expand high-speed internet access in Baker County.
“This investment is not just a financial milestone, it’s a promise of opportunity for remote Eastern Oregon,” said Carmack. “Reliable high-speed internet is the backbone of modern life, and today we’re helping to ensure our most rural students, business owners, and historic farming families have the tools they need to compete and thrive.”
Eagle Telephone System, headquartered in Richland, Oregon, will use this funding to deploy a fiber high-speed internet network to homes, businesses, and farms in Eagle Valley and the surrounding area toward Keating. Eagle Telephone System’s service area of 250 square miles is very rural and includes many cattle ranches. The project will be completed in two phases to upgrade miles of legacy copper to fiber lines and extend new ones along the Conner Creek section of the Snake River in the Hells Canyon Corridor; and, through the Wallowa Whitman Forest to East and Main Eagle Creeks. Once complete, it’s anticipated this investment will help bring in about 90 new customers and support the Baker School District, whose leadership has expressed a great need to connect the Keating School to its broader network.
“We are a family-owned telecommunication provider that’s been around for over 50 years serving our rural eastern Oregon neighbors,” said Rusti Lattin, Vice President of Eagle Telephone System, Inc. “We want our customers and communities to know this project is an investment in the years to come and we are so pleased that USDA is supporting our progress and our future.”
USDA Rural Development’s Telecommunications Infrastructure Loans & Loan Guarantees Program provides financing to construct, maintain, improve, and expand telephone and broadband services in rural areas with populations of 5,000 or less.
USDA Rural Development invests in rural America with programs to promote rural prosperity. These programs expand access to high-speed internet, electricity, and transportation infrastructure, and support economic growth, healthcare, education, housing, and other community essentials. Discover more investment details and historical data in the Rural Data Gateway and learn more about the agency at www.rd.usda.gov.
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