Funds will be divided between a $6.6 million grant and a $6.6 million loan through the
"This will allow PEAK Internet to install fiber optic lines and expand their network in rural areas," explained
McDuff said the lack of population density in rural areas makes it difficult for companies to financially support services.
"It's not feasible for private companies to provide infrastructure in some areas, so we are providing funding to bridge that gap," McDuff said.
PEAK Internet has been upgrading its system in recent years and most recently added fiber optic lines in the
Nine years ago,
While they have been happy with the quality of life part of their decision — flocks of wild turkeys and other wildlife roam the area — a lack of quality high-speed Internet service proved quite frustrating, since Sekiguchi works internationally.
With airline travel difficult, he has relied on videoconferencing daily for more than a year.
"It has been especially important this past year due to COVID-19," Sekiguchi said. "I work with manufacturing companies and we need to be able to hold meetings as well as work with vendors, distributors and marketers."
He has been extremely frustrated with his home's Internet service for years.
There were times his service would collapse as many as 20 times per day. The family switched to satellite service, but Sekiguchi worried about issues if trees in the area blocked reception.
But recently, thanks to PEAK's new fiber optic lines, working from home became much easier, Sekiguchi said.
"He was always talking about 5G phone service,"
She added that uploaded and downloading videos could take hours before, now it takes only minutes.
"We almost gave up on high-speed Internet,"
The Sekeguchis' son, Nathan, 23, lives with them and is studying nursing. The new Internet service is invaluable to his studies.
"The volume of videos he has to download and the amount of correspondence with his instructors is amazing," Tomonori said. "The service has been impeccable."
PEAK Internet is owned by
PEAK Internet President & CEO
The project will allow PEAK to provide gigabit internet speeds to rural customers along with streaming video and traditional telephone service.
"Our population density in some areas is seven homes per mile," Petersen said. "That's doesn't provide enough customers for a stand-alone business case. But with the
Petersen said the fact that half of the money is a loan proves PEAK is serious about serving rural residents.
Petersen said the funds will be used in a small area in
Petersen said high speed broadband also allows
"When wildfires happen, it's important that electric and other utilities can be shut down quickly," Petersen said. "Timing is everything."
Petersen said PEAK hopes to start construction this summer. The company has up to five years to complete the project based on the grant and loan agreement.
"We started the application process in
Petersen said people are telecommuting for their jobs, using telemedicine instead of going to medical clinics and employing distance learning from kindergarten to college levels.
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