Big River getting $24 million for wireless Internet project

Big River Telephone Co. will receive $24.3 million in federal stimulus funds to provide a high-speed wireless Internet network able to serve 90 percent of the homes in a seven-county area of Southeast Missouri.

Gov. Jay Nixon will join management at 2:15 p.m. Thursday at Big River's Cape Girardeau office to discuss the project that will serve Washington, St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Madison, Perry, Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties.

"This is about investing to create opportunities and revenue so we can grow, as opposed to cutting jobs," said Kevin Cantwell, Big River president.

About 75 new jobs will be added at Big River, which is also putting $4.3 million of its own resources toward the wireless broadband project, he said.

He estimates project would create 1,300 jobs, most of which would be related to construction. Other jobs will be created as a result of more businesses having high-speed Internet access, according to the company's grant application.

"This is about using technology to improve what they're doing and positioning their company differently than in the past in a way to reach new customers. It will lead to more sales, more jobs and more productivity," Cantwell said.

The project will provide high-speed wireless broadband Internet access about 100,000 people in the seven-county service area. Cantwell estimates that only 29 percent of households in the area currently have broadband Internet service.

The project will extend service to 44,967 households, 7,511 businesses, 61 schools and 143 medical providers.

The new wireless broadband network will offer download speeds about 100 times faster than dial-up Internet connections and will support a variety of data, voice and video applications, Cantwell said.

Basic home service would be priced at $14.99 per month for seniors, students and the disabled, Cantwell said. For people in the Cape Girardeau area, the service should be available within about six months.

"The price of service will be competitive. We want to keep it affordable," Cantwell said. Big River will open a subsidiary, Big River Broadband, which will open retail offices in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Fredericktown, Perryville, Ste. Genevieve, Potosi and Farmington where people can sign up for Internet service.

In all, $1.2 billion will be invested in the 126 broadband infrastructure projects through funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, according to a news release Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Of the $24 million Big River will receive, about half is a grant while the other half is a loan.

It will take about 20 months to build the infrastructure for the project, Cantwell said.

"We made our first hires today," Cantwell said Wednesday. "We'll be letting contracts in the next 60 days to vendors who are lined up and ready to go."

mmiller@semissourian.com

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