USDA grants Tombigbee Communications almost $3-million for broadband internet

by Steve Wiggins
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HAMILTON – Tombigbee Communications, a subsidiary of Tombigbee Electric Cooperative, today announced the company was awarded a $2.98 million grant administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS). Funded under the Community Connect Broadband Grant Program, the funds primarily will be used to extend service of freedom FIBER, the company’s ultra-high-speed fiber optic service, to the area of Brilliant, Alabama – a rural community in Northwest Alabama. freedom FIBER already has made service available to the areas of Hamilton and Winfield.

The announcement was made today at a gathering at Tombigbee Electric’s new headquarters building. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue, was in attendance and told the audience, “This is the path to bringing rural communities all across America the same internet capabilities as major cities enjoy. It will mean that residents of these rural communities do not have to leave their hometowns in order to work in businesses that employ 21st Century internet technology.”

Governor Kay Ivey, said “The internet is vital to economic development, healthcare, education, and to be honest, all areas of our modern life. Broadband expansion, especially in rural Alabama, is a priority of mine, which is why I’m proud to be a part of today’s announcement for Tombigbee Communications,” said Governor Ivey. “I commend Congressman Robert Aderholt’s and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s efforts to increase broadband access in communities across our state and around the country. Today’s announcement of a nearly $3 million grant is a testament to their leadership and the strong partnership we have with them on the state level.”

Rural Utilities Service grants are administered to expand economic development and improve quality of life in rural communities – two tenants deeply important to Tombigbee. By providing greater access to broadband, RUS grants support the nation’s long-term prosperity by ensuring that rural communities have the infrastructure necessary for residents to flourish, fight population decline and advance alongside larger metropolitan cities. U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt (AL-04), of Haleyville, stewarded the process of procuring this grant. Congressman Aderholt was given a standing ovation for his instrumental work in seeing to it that 2-thousand miles of high-speed internet will be installed in the coverage area of Alabama and Mississippi that surrounds Hamilton.

Alabama State Representative, Johnny Mack Morrow told the Quad Cities Daily, “This is the kind of tech that our communities throughout Alabama need. there’s no reason whatsoever that Franklin, Colbert and Lauderdale shouldn’t have the same connectivity to the internet and those high-tech industries that can bring high-paying work to our residents, wherever that may live.”

Alabama State Senator, Larry Stutts was at the announcement ceremony and offered his support for the expansion of 100 Megabit service throughout Northwest Alabama, “The time has come for all of our citizens to have access to this most-important necessity of the 21st Century.”

Residents of the grant-funded area can expect construction to begin in July 2018, and should be able to begin enjoying the ease of ultra-high-speed internet in October 2018.

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