High Speed Internet Comes to Northwest Missouri

A multimillion dollar broadband internet project in Northwest Missouri is nearing its end, connecting rural homes and businesses to high speed internet that was until now unavailable in this outlying portion of the state. The final stretch of the initiative began last Tuesday, with Governor Jay Nixon commemorating the event in Savannah, MO. More than 1,200 fiber miles spanning six counties have been and will be completed.

More from the St. Joe Channel:

“There’s a gas station not far from us. Those guys were dealing with satellite connection before and credit card transactions wouldn’t work correctly, so it’s made a huge impact,” said Dave Girvan, United Electric. “We’ve had great feedback from them.”

United Electric kicked off the project with the help of a statewide initiative known as MoBroadbandNow. Launched in 2009, it expands broadband to homes, public safety agencies and beyond.

“Getting broadband to schools, businesses and health care is vital to compete in the real world. It’s vital to keep this rural economy moving forward the way it is,” said Gov. Nixon.

United Electric received more than $20 million in grants and loans for the UnitedFiber project.

“Initial feedback so far from the businesses and others has been overwhelming,” said Girvan.

More than 5,000 homes fall under the project’s footprint.

“The rural economy has been a back bone over the last few years in Missouri, and making sure they have the technological advantage is important.” added Gov. Nixon.

When the UnitedFiber project began, less than 38 percent of the homes in the company’s service area had high-speed access. When the projects wraps up, that number will change to nearly 95 percent.

MoBroadband depends on federal, state, local and private resources for funding. The state is investing more than $310 million dollars to expand broadband service over the next few years.

A number of projects like these are going on across the country, and it’s definitely a good thing. We’ll keep covering the success stories here at the TV, Internet and Phone Blog.