REGIONAL— Lake County’s rural broadband project, known as Lake Connections, appears to be back on track following the announcement last week of additional funding. The project, which has received more than $70 million to date in federal and county funds, will soon be providing ultra-high-speed broadband connections to homes and businesses across Lake County and parts of eastern St. Louis County.

The communities of Ely, Babbitt, and Embarrass are all included in the project’s service territory.

Work on the project, which has been plagued by legal challenges and construction delays, had been on hold in recent weeks due to funding issues. The county-owned entity had been unable to make payments to its primary construction contractor, Rohl Networks, which suspended work on the project in late October.

But an infusion of new federal funds, combined with a commitment by the Lake County Board to provide the necessary funds to complete the project by the September 2015 deadline, has given the project new momentum.

“This news provides additional assurances that the construction will resume immediately and the project will be completed on time and on budget,” according to a press statement issued by Lake Connections late last week.

The Federal Communications Commission notified Lake County officials on Dec. 5 that they had provisionally awarded the project a $3.5 million grant. At the same time, officials with the federal Rural Utilities Service (RUS) informed the county that they were releasing funds that they had previously suspended as they considered a project change proposed by Lake County.

The funding announcements came just three days after the Lake County Board, on a 3-2 vote, approved a financial resolution based on an independent analysis by Ehlers. The resolution was necessary to continue and complete the project, and demonstrates the county’s commitment and fiscal capacity to do so.

“We are thrilled with the news from both the FCC and RUS,” stated Rich Sve, Chair of the Board of Lake County Commissioners. “The recent resolution passed by the board to commit funds to cover projected shortfalls, proves to RUS we have dedication to this project. This decision was not made lightly, nor was it made without the advice of financial consultants.”

U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan had helped facilitate negotiations between the RUS and Lake County. “As a member of Congress, I always welcome the opportunity to assist in negotiations between federal agencies and local businesses,” Nolan said. “I commend the local officials involved for their persistence and dedication in seeing this project through.”

In 2010, Lake County received $66.5 million in funding from the Broadband Initiatives Program to make high-speed broadband accessible to all its residents through construct of a fiber-optic network. Lake County is investing $3.5 million in this project.

Timeline for

completion

While the service is already being offered in parts of Silver Bay and Two Harbors, it will likely be several months before Lake Connections can hook up users in places like Ely, Babbitt, Fall Lake, and Embarrass.

Lake Connections General Manager Jeff Roiland, said he hopes to have the project’s main contractor back up and running early in the new year, although frozen ground will likely limit the company’s ability to bury line until spring. But the company has already laid about 350 miles of orange conduit, and Roiland said the company will be able to start blowing the fiber optic cable into the conduit and making necessary connections. At the same time, he said crews will be able to prepare utility poles in rural areas for hanging the fiber optic cables.

While service likely won’t be available until late summer in the northern parts of Lake Connections’s service territory, Roiland said interested residents should contact the company as soon as possible so they can get preliminary work completed ahead of time. “We can be doing that work even as the main line is extended, so people can get hooked up as soon as the main line is completed in their area,” he said.

The new service should provide residents in the service territory with another option for Internet access, including a wide range of television programming and phone. The basic package will start at about $60/month and include Internet download speeds of a whopping 30 megabits-per-second. “We’re pretty excited to have the service coming to town,” said Ely City Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski.

While residents in Ely will soon have a number of options for broadband connectivity, it will be a first for many rural residents in northeastern St. Louis County, who have had limited options in the past.

“We’ve already had 1,200 sign-ups down along the North Shore,” said Roiland, who is optimistic that demand will be significant in other parts of the service territory once the cable installation is complete.