Grant applicants are required to have a line of credit from a major bank and put up 25% of the project cost ahead of time. That will likely disqualify many small internet service providers in rural areas.
Karen Lightman with Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College said that in order to avoid a repeat of funding problems, rural communities will need guidance.
Totelcom, a rural internet service provider, started as a small cooperative in rural De Leon and now serves 10,000 businesses and households in Central Texas. Like other rural service providers, Prather was hopeful about what the money could mean for connecting rural Texas, which has historically had little access to broadband. Now, she is waiting to see how the state might help before applying.
“Just to get these letters of credit can be impossible without tying up a bunch of funds,” Prather said. “It’s one of many issues that, added together, make us want to put our hands up and say, ‘We’re just not going to do that.’”Etex Telephone Cooperative serves a slightly larger customer base in Gilmer. The East Texas-based company serves 14,000 customers and could still run into problems obtaining federal grants even though it is a bigger service provider.
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