Fiber internet to expand across rural Wyoming as early as this spring

In December, Gov. Mark Gordon announced that the $70.5 million in ARPA funding would be split between 32 applications to “expand broadband to more than 11,000 locations across the state that do not currently have access to high-speed internet.”

“This is the single-largest broadband investment in Wyoming history,” Gordon said. “These federal funds will ensure Wyoming communities and businesses that currently lack access to high-quality internet will be equipped with the modern infrastructure they need to access critical services.”

The Wyoming Business Council received 116 applications totaling $413 million in project costs, with $88 million in provider contributions, for a total grant request of $325 million. The WBC retained CTC Technologies as an independent unbiased consultant to review the applications and make a recommendation to the council for the grant awards.

“They were all good projects. We would have made a lot more people happy if we’d had [more] to grant, but we know that BEAD funding is coming down the line,” said Elaina Zempel, broadband manager for the Wyoming Broadband Office, an arm of the Wyoming Business Council.

Broadband access to expand in rural areas

Grant applications for the ARPA funding were scored on a points system and reviewed by CTC Technologies before going to the State Loan and Investment Board for approval in December. To stay consistent with federal guidelines, applications were prioritized for fiber in the ground versus fixed wireless or satellite internet, as were projects to unserved locations with less than a 25 megabit per second download and a 3 megabit upload speeds.

“We told people we wanted fiber in the ground, and we wanted to hit un- and underserved areas,” Zepmel said. “We also gave points to community anchor institutions – like libraries, community centers, senior centers – understanding how important they are to rural areas.”

Jeanne Whalen, a former Crook County commissioner and resident of Aladdin, said that phone and internet services in her corner of the state have been sub-par for decades.

“This region, this area in northeastern Wyoming, all the way down to Wheatland and Lusk, people have complained since at least the 1980s about phone service around here,” Whalen said.

Gallatin Wireless Internet, LLC, received SLIB approval for a maximum grant amount of $16.2 million to provide fiber to homes and businesses in the Aladdin-Beulah area last December.

“We cannot be happier. It is positive,” Whalen said.

Also on the list are areas like Dubois, Baggs, La Grange and Torrington. In total, five providers, including Gallatin; Visionary Broadband, Inc.; Charter Communications; BHT Holdings, Inc.; and Range Telephone Cooperative, Inc., received grants totaling $70.49 million.

“I would argue that rural Americans in our small communities like Dubois and Baggs need access to reliable broadband even more than others, maybe more than people in an urban area,” Adria Trembly, regional manager for Range Telephone’s Dubois office, said.

The Town of Baggs, population 406, in Carbon County, has had fiber in the ground for several years, but Range will use a $1.2 million grant to extend fiber to homes and businesses in the Weber Mesa area. That means that the company will be able to use its own funding to expand fiber access near Togwotee Pass near Dubois, something that would not have been possible without the grant funding, Trembly said.

“As much as we’d like to have fiber to every business and home in our area, we are limited by that resource. Funding is not finite, so we have to pick and choose, and that is a hard decision, where we will spend our money for the next fiber-to-home project,” Trembly said.

As a relatively small provider, employees at Range often know the people in their service area as their friends and neighbors, Trembly said. In its attempt to provide service to its customer base, Range Telephone will also pursue BEAD funding, she continued.

“Who knows if we will get it, but it’s nice to know that it will impact the state of Wyoming as a whole, even if Range doesn’t receive those funds. Some really good things can happen across the state with this level of funding,” Trembly said.

Agricultural, educational and public safety needs

For Wyoming businesses, expanded broadband is crucial. Outside Baggs, many agricultural operations and energy support service businesses rely on internet, Trembly said.

“Those are the businesses we hear from, the ones who need reliable broadband,” she said. “It’s amazing how much agriculture really does need broadband. From market information, like, are you going to sell your cattle now or wait a few weeks, that is data gleaned from broadband access. Even access to tele-veterinarian services is one we hear a lot.”

It can be difficult for people in more populated areas of the state to understand what unreliable phone or internet service can mean to a rural Wyomingite, Whalen said. Her husband once served as the local volunteer fire department chief, she recalled, and people would have to drive to the top of the nearest hill to make a 911 call.

“We’ve actually had people have to do that — go to the highest hill for service to call and say someplace is on fire,” Whalen said. “The small [communities] are getting drowned out, where we don’t have enough people to make it worthwhile for [companies] to come in. This is exactly why we need this federal money, for communities like ours. Having this fiber will be so great.”

The service, she emphasized, is not simply for new people looking to live and work in rural Wyoming.

“This is for those of us who’ve lived here,” she said. “It is 2024, and imagine your dad is having a heart attack and you can’t call out, or if there is a fire, and you can’t call out. We have plans, companies that are interested in coming to our area, but they are waiting for the money [to expand].”

Construction could begin on some of the ARPA-funded projects as early as this spring.

“Right now, we’re still working through the contracts with the five providers,” Zempel said, adding that each company completed preliminary engineering planning when they put in their bids.

Some projects, she said, have been in the works for years.

“There is always a risk that when you start digging, you find rock,” she said. “There will be minor changes here and there, and providers might find a better, more cost-effective way to do things. But preliminarily, what we’re after at the Business Council is using that federal money … to get fiber is in the ground. We want services extended.”