Oklahoma board approves over $158 million in grants for broadband projects

The Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board voted to approve over $158 million in broadband expansion projects. The board approved 50 projects during its meeting in Oklahoma City on Thursday. (Photo by Emma Murphy/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Over $158 million in broadband expansion projects were approved Thursday by the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board.

The 50 awarded projects are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act Capital Project Funds. The Oklahoma Broadband Office had $159 million available to award for the projects.

The projects will bring internet service to over 28,000 homes and businesses spanning 28 counties in Oklahoma, mostly in rural areas. Over 70 projects were denied due to high costs, and three others were approved in the event that more funding becomes available.

The board unanimously approved projects with proposed costs per location of $10,000 or less in order to stretch the funding. The projects that were denied had costs per location over that threshold.

Mike Sanders, executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, said these projects are tentatively approved as contracts have not been signed yet and there is “a lot of work on the backend.”

All but one of the 50 approved projects were fiber projects, which Sanders called the “gold standard” of broadband because it lasts decades and maintenance is easier.

“These investments are a game changer for communities that have for far too long been left behind in the digital age,” Sanders said in a statement. “We’re moving closer to ensuring that every Oklahoman has access to the high-speed internet essential for success in today’s world.”

The 50 approved grants are for 12 different internet service providers. The top awarded providers were:

• Cox Communications was awarded nine contracts totaling nearly $61 million,
• Dobson Fiber was awarded 10 contracts totaling over $24.7 million,
• Resound Networks was awarded 11 contracts totaling over $18.2 million,
• Atlas Broadband was awarded eight contracts totaling over $17.6 million, and
• AT&T Services, on behalf of its affiliate Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, was awarded three contracts totaling over $14.1 million.

This is the second round of approval for broadband grant funding by the board this year. Total funds awarded now total over $500 million.

After this round of approval, the projects will provide “high-speed internet access to more than 66,000 locations in 57 of the state’s 77 counties,” according to a news release.

The Oklahoma Broadband Office will next work to approve grants for the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment, or BEAD, program. The BEAD program will provide over $750 million in grants to expand internet access in Oklahoma.

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