Stimulus Award

South Dakota’s largest broadband stimulus effort is halfway through its construction timeline and well on its way to meeting federal timelines in spite of a soggy construction season.

SDN Communications received the $20.6 million grant in December 2009, which was among the first awards in the nation. Environmental regulations kept SDN from starting construction until August of last year, yet it has still achieved milestones, including:

  • Deploying 126 miles of fiber;
  • Touching 105 sites;
  • And expending almost $10 million.

The project stretches across 70 South Dakota communities, bringing high-speed, fiber optic broadband services to anchor institutions – hospitals, schools, libraries, public safety and government offices. The increased bandwidth will help those anchor institutions offer better services to customers, including telemedicine, on-line classes and government services.

 

For more information on the BTOP program, click here.

 

 

 

 

SDN Part of Economic Development for the Region—with 229 Locations Completed so far for BTOP

Posted on Friday, February 03, 2012 in BTOP/Stimulus, Internet

Read the full story here, in Prairie Business Magazine. Mark Shlanta was interviewed about the Broadband Stimulus progress so far and is quoted saying, "SDN’s new fiber will provide connectivity to more than 300 anchor institutions – schools, rural hospitals and clinics, government office buildings, and local, county, state and federal office buildings – across the state. The communications company is approximately three-quarters complete and has built 250-350 miles of fiber and touched more than 200 anchor institutes. The remainder of the $25.7 million project is expected to be completed by the end of the year."

SDN’s Broadband Boost to Hwy 14 Hits Close to Home

Posted on Monday, January 09, 2012 in General Blog Posts, BTOP/Stimulus, News, Internet, Connectivity, Miscellaneous

It’s easy to get lost in the technology in delivering broadband services, but it’s the human element that makes it a worthwhile, rewarding career. That’s been reinforced with me recently.

Just before Christmas, SDN turned up high-speed broadband services to the schools along Highway 14 between Huron and Brookings. Students and staff in Iroquois, De Smet, Lake Preston, Arlington and Volga have long been starved for faster service. They’ve been receiving their services via old, copper phone lines. SDN’s fiber delivers the service up to five times faster – 10 Megabits per second.

UK to build 300 Mbps Open Network, Far Surpassing the US Average

Posted on Wednesday, October 05, 2011 in General Blog Posts, BTOP/Stimulus, Internet, Miscellaneous

BT Openreach, a UK telecom, is planning a fiber-to-the-home build that will offer 300 Mbps speeds. The company is investing $2.5 billion into the project. Japan, Korea and the Netherlands all currently offer gigabit broadband speeds in select areas. The US is now lagging farther behind with an average connection speed of 5.1 Mbps.