XFONE begins construction of PRIDE network
OCTOBER 12, 2010 -- XFONE Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the official beginning of construction of its “PRIDE” fiber-to-the-premise network. The Pride network will encompass 19 Texas communities, including Iowa Park and Burkburnett, Texas. A third portion of the network will bring next-generation broadband to multiple Louisiana communities in the St. Helena, Wa., and Tangipahoa Parish area.
Xfone’s PRIDE network was selected to receive an aggregate of $54 million in loans and $45.9 million in grants from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Broadband Initiative Program. PRIDE Network will use the funding to provide an FTTP telecommunications infrastructure, with a WiMAX service-extension overlay that will bring advanced broadband services to the Texas plains and southern Louisiana markets.
“We are very excited to begin construction on our PRIDE network and look forward to bringing our voice, video and data service offerings to communities who have not previously had high-speed internet access,” Guy Nissenson, Xfone president and chief executive officer.