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Manager’s Memo - for the week ending July 9, 2010
Grand River, Northeast Win Broadband Funding: MTIA member companies Grand River Mutual Telephone Corporation and Northeast Missouri Rural Telephone Company have been awarded more than $18 million in federal stimulus funding to extend broadband services in northern Missouri. Grand River will receive $11.4 million in loans and grants to construct a fiber-to-the-home network in and around the town of Lathrop. Northeast will garner about $7.2 million in a loan and grant combination for a fiber-to-the-premises project in their Green City exchange.
Grand River will also receive more than $30 million for broadband projects in their Iowa exchanges, bringing the carrier's total award to $40.9 million. Janie Dunning and Bill Menner, USDA Rural Development State Directors in Missouri and Iowa, will be in Princeton this morning to make the official presentation. A presentation ceremony with USDA officials at Northeast is planned in Green City this afternoon.
The Missouri broadband awards are among 66 projects chosen to receive a total of $780 million in the second round of Recovery Act funding announced late last week. Additional funding rounds are anticipated later this summer and fall.
Commission Files Comments on Federal Plan: The Missouri Public Service Commission weighed in this week on the National Broadband Plan, approving comments at its Wednesday Agenda Meeting to be filed in the FCC docket on reforming the USF program. The comments (attached) closely followed previous positions taken by the Commission on the USF program. The Commission's recommendations included support for the use of a forward-looking, incremental cost model that includes consideration of a company's revenues and inclusion of state input into the bid evaluation process if competitive bids are used to award USF funding. The Commission stated it supports the FCC's specific proposals to reform the legacy high-cost program.
Registrations Needed Now for Annual Conference: Well, it looks like you sold out the Chateau for the MTIA Annual Conference (good job ! ). But --- now we need to ask you to be sure to send your conference registration to us ASAP. Registering with us now helps our staff to better prepare to provide you with an excellent conference experience. Just click on www.mtia.org, print and complete the registration form, and fax, scan or mail it to the MTIA office. And yes, payment can follow separately. Hope to see you all in Branson August 8-11.
Industry Partner of the Week: MTIA member company Calix provides innovative access solutions to enable a wide array of advanced broadband services on copper and fiber-based networks for Missouri telecommunications carriers. For more information contact Skip Hirvela, regional sales manager, at 972-529-2482 or visit them online at www.calix.com.
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