The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
Over a thousand homes in Crook County are set to have access to broadband internet for the first time thanks to federal grant awards that aim to make access available across the nation.
Two local projects were among 32 applications to be approved for funding, with a total of $70.5 million in federal funds to be spent expanding broadband to more than 11,000 locations across the state that do not currently have access to high-speed internet.
“This is the single-largest broadband investment in Wyoming history,” said Governor Mark Gordon in the announcement.
“These federal funds will ensure Wyoming communities and businesses that currently lack access to high-quality internet will be equipped with the modern infrastructure they need to access critical services.”
The first of Crook County’s two projects will provide fiber to the home and to businesses in eastern Crook County, specifically in the Aladdin-Beulah area. It has been assigned to Gallatin Wireless Internet, LLC (Celerity Networks) for a grant total of just under $16.3 million.
The second will provide fiber to the home and business in the Moorcroft, Pine Haven, Sand Hills and Iron Mountain areas. It has been assigned to Charter Communications for a grant total of just under $3.8 million.
“When built this will serve 765 unserved households in the Moorcroft Pine Haven, Sand Hills and Iron Mtn areas and 411 unserved households in the Aladdin Beulah area of Crook County,” says County Attorney Joe Baron.
“This will assist the business and educational needs of our county. A special thanks to Jeanne Whalen for her perseverance and leading the charge on this.”
In the Moorcroft-area project, 663 underserved locations are also expected to benefit, along with 43 underserved locations in the Aladdin-Beulah project area.
According to a memo from Broadband Manager Elaina Zempel to the Wyoming Business Council (WBC) Board of Directors, the U.S. Treasury launched the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund in 2021, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provides $10 billion for eligible governments to carry out critical projects that directly enable work, education and health monitoring – including remote options.
Governor Mark Gordon designated $75 million of the ARPA funding for broadband infrastructure improvements to ensure Wyomingites can telework, learn from home and have access to telemedicine, Zempel wrote. This was to be administered by the WBC.
On February 21, 2023, the U.S. Treasury approved the Capital Projects Fund to expand broadband infrastructure in Wyoming. The Connect Wyoming program was designed to distribute this funding, focusing on infrastructure deployment.
Fiber optic is the preferred solution as a future-proof capital investment and the focus is underserved and unserved areas. The goal is to provide affordable universal access to reliable broadband with a minimum of 100 Mbps upload and download speeds.
Broadband providers were given the opportunity to submit applications and were scored on three categories: the percent of unserved/underserved location, the proposed solution and project readiness. The latter category included such considerations as cash match, rights-of-way and timeline.
An independent consultant, CTC Technologies, was retained by the WBC to review the applications and make a recommendation for the grant awards. Of the 116 applications received, a total of 32 were recommended.
All projects must be complete by the end of December, 2026.
