Media release
(Cushing, OK-Aug. 27) – The City of Cushing, Payne County and Centranet LLC, have jointly applied for a $29M grant with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) under the Broadband Infrastructure program. If awarded, the grant will be used to build Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) broadband infrastructure to make gigabit internet available to the residents of Cushing, Perkins, Yale and Glencoe.
“We are excited about the opportunities this grant will provide the city of Cushing and neighboring communities,” said B.J. Roberson, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners. “The availability of high-speed internet will make Cushing and others in Payne County gig-cities and take us all into the next era of information technology.”
NTIA has $288M available in federal funds and expects to make 200 awards across the US for building broadband infrastructure. The decision will be made late November 2021.
“Every home, school and business in small towns and rural areas within Payne County should have access to high-speed internet,” said Zach Cavett, Payne County District #1 Commissioner. “Receiving these grant funds would be a huge win in helping set us on the path to attain that objective.”
The ongoing pandemic gives strong evidence that reliable gigabit internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Centranet, a subsidiary of Central Rural Electric Cooperative, is an established internet service provider (ISP) currently providing gigabit internet to rural Oklahomans. Centranet’s FTTH project will include more than 4,500 miles of fiber across parts of seven counties in north-central Oklahoma.
“Centranet began its FTTH build in October 2020 and is aggressively expanding its network,” said Mark Prather, President of Centranet. “The grant funding will allow us to serve these communities even quicker.”
