Three years ago, DTC Communications (Alexandria, Tenn.), under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Chris Townson, decided it would do everything it can to connect more communities in its vicinity to high-speed broadband.
After applying for and receiving a state grant to connect several nearby areas, DTC began to receive more local recognition. People in communities served by other carriers or with no service at all started calling.
“We get calls almost every single day from people that just need service,” said Townson. One of those calls was from a woman who said she had signatures from dozens of people asking for broadband. “She literally stood in the road for days and got signatures, did a petition.”
When DTC learned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ReConnect program was providing loans and grants to connect more Tennesseans, Townson quickly encouraged his board to apply. On Oct. 8, DTC received a $2.2 million ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber network that will connect more than 2,000 people, 65 farms and 17 businesses in Smith, Trousdale and Wilson counties.
DTC is one of many small companies that have received loans and grants under the program. More than 70 NTCA members have been awarded, representing hundreds of millions of dollars in support for rural broadband networks that will be managed by community-based providers.
In total, USDA invested $698 million in Round One to bring high-speed broadband to approximately 167,000 households and thousands of small businesses, farms, health care centers, educational facilities and other critical community institutions in 33 states. The agency has received 11 Round Two applications that are eligible for the $100 million Congress allocated to the program through the CARES Act.
Townson said the announcement of DTC’s grant, made in coordination with awards to fellow Tennessee telcos Ben Lomand Connect (McMinnville), Highland Telephone Co-op (Sunbright) and West Tennessee Telephone Company (TEC; Bradford), was a high point not only for his company and his state, but also the broader NTCA community.
“It's so encouraging when we see an NTCA member win this award," Townson said. "It's like, 'wow, that's another community, there are multiple families and lives that are going to be changed because of connectivity that leads to unlimited opportunities.' What an amazing thing."
