Great Plains Communications secures $11M to expand Nebraska broadband footprint

Great Plains Communications (GPC) has been awarded $11 million from the Public Service Commission to bring Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) and business services to eight Nebraska communities. This funding will allow access to symmetrical internet speeds up to 2 Gbps.

Great Plains Communications Nebraska Capital Projects Fund Community Awards

·       Arnold

·        Ewing

·        Hayes Center

·        Herman

·        Niobrara

·        Petersburg

·        Stapleton

·        Winnetoon

The company will also provide additional fiber-driven services, including streaming video, voice, and a full suite of business solutions. In all, the new funding will cover 1,400 business and residential passings.

GPC originally introduced a 2 Gbps symmetrical residential fiber service and a 10 Gbps business service to 10 Nebraska and Iowa communities in February. A host of other services, including iTV streaming video, security, voice and GPC Whole Home Wi-Fi with Plume Home Pass, complements GPC’s residential 2 Gbps service. Besides being able to access 10 Gbps speeds, businesses can also turn to GPC for other vital services such as managed Ethernet, GPC Cloud Connect, GPC Smarter Business Security, GPC Managed Wi-Fi, multiple voice options, GPC Wireless backup LTE, SD-WAN and Unified Communications.

A key focus for GPC is aligning itself as a partner for its communities.

“Great Plains Communications would like to thank the Public Service Commission and Governor Pillen for their commitment to advancing Nebraska rural broadband deployment,” said Todd Foje, CEO of Great Plains Communications. “We appreciate the ongoing partnership with our elected officials as we continue our progress towards bringing reliable fiber services to as many customers in our footprint as possible, regardless of where they live.”

The Public Service Commission administers the Nebraska Capital Projects Fund. Authorized by the Nebraska Legislature in 2021, the program will provide $87.7 million in broadband infrastructure funding to reach areas without access to reliable, affordable high-speed internet services.

GPC has been expanding its broadband network through a mix of its own internal investments and public funding. In December, the telco was awarded over $2.8 million from the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program funding by the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC). The funds were designated to deploy fiber to ten projects in various areas of Nebraska, with GPC providing a 25% funding match of $940,000.