Senator Blunt Visits Cameron
U.S. Senator Roy Blunt visited Cameron on Tuesday, April 16. He met with a small contingent of people at NW Electric to discuss the status of rural broadband in Northwest Missouri. Senator Blunt stated that this is an important topic, “If we are going to be competitive, the high-speed broadband is as important now as the telephone was 70 years ago. If we don’t make this connection, we are not going to have either the opportunities, or the population, or the economy we would like to have and should be able to have…Frankly, I think the rural electric coop part of providing this, at the end of the day, may be the most successful. You’ve got the infrastructure; you know how to run lines and you know how to serve your members”.
United Fiber CEO, James Bagley, gave a brief presentation about how the company is progressing in connecting the more rural areas and focused primarily on DeKalb County. DeKalb County received 5.6 million from the Connect America Fund Phase II (CAF-II) Auction as part of the FCC monies awarded in August 2018. Missouri was allocated $255 million over the next 10 years to expand rural broadband.
According to Mr. Bagely, Cameron served as a catalyst for United Fiber’s expansion into the more remote areas because of the population density, “Cameron was one of our first success stories of going outside in the country. That has helped us be able to afford to go out into the county”. By setting the more densely populated areas first, United Fiber can gain some economies of scale which generates the funding to continue to expand into the more remote areas. Mr. Shatto was present and spoke briefly about the difference the United Fiber broadband connection made to his dairy business.
Senator Blunt commended Mr. Bagley, “The way you are following through really encourages everybody that’s trying to help get this done; to see somebody actually doing what they said they are going to do, and doing it ahead of schedule, and at a cost people can afford”. Another $20 billion in CAF-III funding was announced this week which local providers hope to tap into to expand broadband internet serves even further. Senator Blunt will take his report on the progress of rural broadband in Northwest Missouri back to the State Legislature and Congressional delegation.
