Armed with the resources provided by a new $10.7-million grant/loan award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a Van Buren County telecommunications firm reports they will provide broadband internet connectivity services to expanded rural areas with the Reconnect Pilot Program.
Bloomingdale Communications says today that the ReConnect grant will provide $5,360,136, and Bloomingdale Communications will fund a full match with a low-interest loan for a total of $10,720,272. The new funding will add service capabilities to nearly 2,000 new locations in rural Van Buren and Allegan counties adjacent to the ongoing $12 million Fiber To The Home Internet installation project in Bloomingdale and the surrounding service area.
The service expansion project was one of two in Michigan to receive confirmation of ReConnect funding last month, as Steve Shults, General Manager of the firm says, “The need in rural areas of Allegan and Van Buren Counties was already high,” adding, “Now, more people are working from home than ever before. Students are taking online courses. Everyone around the world is connecting online for social interactions.”
The ReConnect grant will provide 1,890 locations with new fiber internet service with installation of an estimated total of 171.6 miles of mainline fiber and 111 miles of drop fiber, from the road to homes and businesses. The new fiber service will encompass lake areas of Osterhout, Saddle, Mill, North (in Gobles), Jeptha and Scott, as well as rural Paw Paw to the West.
The impact is significant, as the area includes 7,700 residents, 19 businesses and 22 farms. Many of these homes and businesses currently rely on satellite services or have no internet service at all.
The expanded areas, in Van Buren and Allegan counties, are generally adjacent to the current Fiber to the Home project, which includes Bloomingdale, Columbia and Waverly Townships in Van Buren County along with Cheshire and Lee Townships in Allegan County. That project, announced in April of 2018, is already serving almost 500 homes and is expected to start providing service to one thousand additional customers by the end of the year.
Founded by local stakeholders in 1905 to bring telephone service to Bloomingdale’s outlying farms, Bloomingdale Communications is poised to once again modernize rural connections to the world. Rural connectivity challenges led Bloomingdale Communications to develop the $12 million Bloomingdale Fiber to the Home project currently underway to provide fiber to its current customer base and a small expansion to service borders. The addition of the Reconnect Pilot Program project further expands service borders.
As previously announced, the Bloomingdale Communications Fiber to the Home project will:
- Provide significantly faster internet upload and download speeds…
- Increase reliability of the Bloomingdale Communications network…
- Future-proof our communities’ connections with the world…
- Provide sustainable and affordable Internet communication…
- Work with local municipalities to build strong communities, together…
Shults says, “Bloomingdale Communications looks forward to providing 21st century connectivity to the households and businesses that have needed these services for far too long.” He notes Bloomingdale Communications continues to work to find any appropriate means to expand its fiber coverage area, with support from future customers like those who helped advocate for and service through the ReConnect grant. Shults thanks U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, for his efforts associated with the ReConnect program.
One longtime community advocate for connectivity in the lake areas, Brock Rakow, was thrilled to learn about the ReConnect grant from Bloomindale Communications community outreach. In late March, he had inquired about the status of future connectivity and the grant process with a poignant message: “In times such as these, when residents are required to shelter in place, consult medical professionals online, conduct business, and connect school-aged children from our homes, high-speed internet is no longer an option, rather a necessity of daily life.”
