Cunningham requests ARPA funds for fiber network

A request for $750,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to help fund a broadband internet project was presented by Cunningham Telephone & Cable to the Cloud County board of commissioners during its regular meeting on Monday.
NCK Today reported that Brent Cunningham, vice president and general manager of Cunningham Telephone & Cable, presented the plan to the board for a project designed to provide high-speed, reliable and affordable broadband internet to approximately 375 residential households, businesses and anchor institutions in unserved/underserved areas in Cloud County.
The estimated cost of the project is $1,200,500.
Information about the project presented to the county board states that to serve the greatest number of community members, Cunningham Telephone & Cable proposes the build of a fiber network that will consist of fiber-to-the-home to homes passed along the fiber mainline, serving state-of-the-art fiber internet to roughly 140 households.
Fiber backbone technology will then be used to expand the reach of wireless internet to 235 NCKCN customers with increased reliability and speed.
NCKCN is a 501c3 non-profit and by using its wireless internet reach, Cunningham Cable & Telephone can benefit Cloud County with both higher speeds and new coverage areas.
Cunningham Telephone & Cable pledges to contribute $390,500 of the project cost as an investment into the Cloud County community.
NCKCN has pledged to contribute $60,000 should the project move forward.
Cunningham Cable & Telephone and NCKCN have been partners for over 20 years providing broadband internet to north central Kansas.
Together, Cunningham Cable & TV and NCKCN Wireless provide internet access to over 6,000 customers in north central Kans
The information presented to the board states that Cloud County is among those rural areas that are the most costly and difficult to cover and that outside funding is vital to bring the people in the area the high-speed internet they need, and allows the service providers, both Cunningham Cable & TV and NCKCN, to present the high-speed internet services as affordable and attainable.
Currently, 26.2 percent of the population of Cloud County does not have access to and/or do not subscribe to broadband internet services.
It was reported to the board that upon completion of the project, 95 percent of the county will be served with high-speed fiber and/or NCKCN Wireless internet availability and that the project will improve cell phone service across the country by feeding cellular towers with fiber.
Areas in Cloud County targeted by Cunningham Telephone & Cable for the fiber build include those where a provider does not provide at least 25/3 Mbps internet access in rural areas.
One fiber route runs down Highway No. 9 and also a route to Cloud Ceramics.
There is a route down U.S. Highway 81 to the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) tower, and another route runs along the east side of Blosser Municipal Airport in the airport industrial development area. It proposes a partnership in share costs with KDOT.