TDS' Salem, Ky., broadband stimulus project extends service to 650 new homes

TDS Telecom has completed its latest broadband stimulus project around Salem, Ky., bringing service to area businesses and more than 650 residents--nearly 100 more than it projected in its funding application.

In April, the service provider completed a portion of the project.

For this project, TDS installed more than 30 miles of fiber optics cabling and nine remote terminal (RT) cabinets, which house necessary broadband loop carrier (BLC) and related fiber-based electronics, throughout its Salem Telephone Company territory.

TDS projected the cost of this build to be nearly $2.6 million. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) grant covered 75 percent of the cost and TDS invested the remaining 25 percent (nearly $650,000) to expand broadband to more businesses and residents.

While TDS can provide broadband service on its own to 95 percent of its existing customer base, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding has enabled it to expand broadband service to nearly 30,500 households across the country in difficult-to-reach areas. This is more than the initial 27,000 homes it projected in its original application. 

Salem, Ky., is just one of many towns where TDS Telecom has completed broadband stimulus projects. It also recently completed projects in Virginia and around Medford and Stetsonville, Ky.

For more:
- see the release

Special report: TDS' stimulus program will breathe broadband life into 27,000 rural households

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