According to Computerworld, rural users anxiously awaiting 4G service might not have to wait much longer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded over $500 million in grants to 40 different companies to help them deploy WiMAX in 22 states. This was the Rural Utility Service Funds second round of grants in an effort to bring high speed internet access to users still stuck on dial up. This is great news for people that still live outside of the major carriers' 3G footprints.
Two of the larger companies that were awarded grants were EcliptixNet Broadband, a company dedicated to developing high speed internet for rural areas of Washington state, and DigitalBridge Communications, which operate as an ISP in Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. These grants provided EcliptixNet with $20.4 million to cover 46,000 rural homes while DigitalBridge received $7.5 million to cover 52,000 people in Idaho, 7,000 people in Indiana and 7,000 people in Mississippi. These build outs will focus on upgrading current towers as well as introducing new towers to areas to provide service.
DigitalBridge cofounder Bill Wallace stated, "customers in the coverage area will be able to pay $30 a month for fixed WiMAX services that offer download speeds of up to 4Mbps, and that they can pay an additional $15 a month for a USB device they can put on their laptops to give them portable access to the WiMAX network". It's not clear if they'll have roaming aggrements in place with current WiMAX providers like Sprint and CLEAR, who already have 56 WiMAX markets up and running, but the article did note that the service providers will be investing around $350 per home to bring the latest WiMAX network to these rural areas.
Related Links:
Two of the larger companies that were awarded grants were EcliptixNet Broadband, a company dedicated to developing high speed internet for rural areas of Washington state, and DigitalBridge Communications, which operate as an ISP in Virginia, Mississippi, Indiana, Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. These grants provided EcliptixNet with $20.4 million to cover 46,000 rural homes while DigitalBridge received $7.5 million to cover 52,000 people in Idaho, 7,000 people in Indiana and 7,000 people in Mississippi. These build outs will focus on upgrading current towers as well as introducing new towers to areas to provide service.
DigitalBridge cofounder Bill Wallace stated, "customers in the coverage area will be able to pay $30 a month for fixed WiMAX services that offer download speeds of up to 4Mbps, and that they can pay an additional $15 a month for a USB device they can put on their laptops to give them portable access to the WiMAX network". It's not clear if they'll have roaming aggrements in place with current WiMAX providers like Sprint and CLEAR, who already have 56 WiMAX markets up and running, but the article did note that the service providers will be investing around $350 per home to bring the latest WiMAX network to these rural areas.
Related Links:
- CLEAR/Sprint 4G WiMAX Markets
- Check Coverage In Your Area With 3Gstores 3G/4G Coverage Map
