A St. Louis-area broadband provider plans to seek federal funds to bring service to several underserved areas, including Texas County.
Victoria Proffer, president and CEO of St. Louis Broadband, said the firm hopes to capture federal dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to bring broadband service to Jefferson, St. Francois, Washington, Iron, Reynolds, Madison, Ste. Genevieve, Wayne, Shannon, Texas, Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Butler and Perry counties. More than $4 billion is earmarked for a nationwide rollout.
Proffer, whose firm has provided services to the St. Louis area since 2003, said the grants fund the capital expenses to provide broadband availability throughout the U.S. It also provides the establishment of Internet centers within community buildings (library, community centers, etc.) for citizens without computers or Internet service.
Wireless Internet access is more affordable than most broadband options because it uses the “air” to transport the signal, not the telephone company’s copper or the cable company’s fiber, the firm says.
Proffer said there would be several benefits to the service:
-Savings to local governments and police/fire departments because of free high-speed Internet access. The firm would install a public safety network on its towers. She said by saving tax dollars from these expenses, they can be allocated to other important projects.
-Accommodation of telemedicine applications.
-Wholesale broadband to local schools.
-Increased attraction of businesses and industries that require Internet infrastructure.
-Enhanced communication with friends and family, online education and children will be able to do research and homework with greater success.
-Providing several local jobs during the build out of the network. Employment specific to the network would be available: support, maintenance, sales and management.
Proffer said the towers used by the system would be powered by solar and wind sources. The towers also would be engineered to provide collocation for cellular providers to extend their networks. Distance learning and online video conferencing services also would become available.
The firm is seeking letters of support as it submits its application next month to the National Telecommunications and Information Network and USDA Rural Utilities Service.
Persons interested in providing a letter of support can fax it to 573-747-4756 or e-mail it to transform.broadbandinterest@mo.gov.
The firm’s Web site is showmebroadband.com. A survey is available at the site. The parent company’s Web site is at stlbroadband.com.