USDA approves $14.7 million South Slope loan

NORTH LIBERTY - The U.S. Department of Agriculture approved a $14.7 million communications infrastructure loan for South Slope Cooperative Communications.

The money will be used to complete South Slope's fiber-optic project in Amana and phase two of the cooperative's build out in Ely.

'We are working on an $80 million, multiyear fiber optics conversion project to address the growing demand for bandwidth in the Corridor area,” said Justyn Miller, South Slope CEO. 'Our current goal is to covert 100 percent of homes and businesses in our incumbent local exchange carrier areas to fiber optics.”

South Slope, based in North Liberty, installed 234 miles of fiber-optic cabling in 2012 and another 213 miles were laid in 2013. The cooperative expects to work on a fiber build out to Amana and surrounding communities in the spring of 2015.

South Slope serves Amana, Ely, Fairfax, Newhall, North Liberty, Norway, Oxford, Solon, Shueyville, Tiffin, Watkins, Walford, west and south Cedar Rapids, and portions of Coralville. The cooperative has been a pioneer in running fiber-optic cable to homes and businesses, enabling it to provide faster Internet speeds and a broader range of services.

The South Slope loan announced Wednesday is part of $190.5 million in USDA grants and loans to make broadband and other advanced communications infrastructure improvements in rural areas. The agency is providing the assistance through the Community Connect Grant program, the Public Television Digital Transition Grant program and the Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan program.

”Modern telecommunications and broadband access is now as essential to the businesses and residents of rural America as electricity was in the 1930s,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement announcing the grants and loans.

'The investments we are announcing today will provide (Internet) broadband in areas that lack it, help rural-serving public television stations begin using digital broadcasts, and support other telecommunications infrastructure improvements.”