When a company receives money, you’ve got to consider questions of “how much” and “who from” to figure out what sort of attention it’s owed. In the case of broadband service provider Open Range Communications, the answers are “a lot” and “a branch of the U.S. government.”
Open Range Communications To Provide Broadband To Rural Communities
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will loan Open Range Communications $257 million so that it can deliver broadband in 518 rural communities. In case you couldn’t guess, a press release states, “The commitment by USDA and Open Range represents one of the largest public-private investments for broadband service by the federal government.”
Satellite services should also come into play, and as far as money goes, another $100 million from the private sector is going along for the ride. Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Wisconsin are due to benefit in terms of both jobs and connectivity.
Otherwise, well . . . Om Malik sums up the situation. “Ironically, for a company that is getting such a huge amount of money as a loan, there is little or no information. Their web site is a place holder with a link to an email address for their PR person. Given that they secured hundreds of millions of dollars from a government department, one should expect more transparency. Even the details on how the network and service will be rolled out remain sketchy.”
At the least, though, this project will hopefully act as an economic stimulus.
