© 2024 Wyoming Public Media
800-729-5897 | 307-766-4240
Wyoming Public Media is a service of the University of Wyoming
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Transmission & Streaming Disruptions

Loan will improve Wyoming broadband

Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that a loan of almost $11.4 million of will go to Dubois Telephone Exchange to improve broadband service in the state.

Dubois Telephone Exchanges General Manager, Michael Kenney, says the improvements will primarily serve customers in the Upper Wind River Valley and the Little Snake River Valley, but will also help make Dubois Telephone compatible with Silverstar Communications network.

As it stands, broadband fiber optics snakes from Dubois through Riverton, over to Casper, down to Cheyenne, along the I-80 corridor and then back up to Jackson, leaving a gap between Jackson and Dubois and the state vulnerable to major service problems should that line be cut anywhere.

Kenney says closing that gap will provide needed protection for businesses in the state.

"When you have a ring configuration like that, if the fiber is cut anywhere along that ring, the service doesn't drop. It just routes the other direction. Those are the types of protective mechanisms that businesses who are interested in relocating or expanding into Wyoming look for."

Kenney expects the loan to create up to 100 jobs and save up to 150 others. He adds that broadband speeds could increase to as high as 100-megabits with the replacement of older copper lines in rural communities.