The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas have delivered broadband capability to more than one million Arkansans as part of a $4.66 billion investment, with 13,000 more miles and $2.2 billion left to go in current cooperative projects.
More than 40,000 miles of fiber have been installed collectively by 17 cooperative broadband providers, including 15 local broadband providers, one wholesale broadband provider and one middle-mile fiber company.
Upon completion of the current cooperative fiber projects, 53,000 miles of fiber will be installed, providing internet service to 1.2 million Arkansans in 72 of 75 counties.
The cooperative said 79% of its investment in fiber infrastructure has been self-funded without grant subsidies. And Vernon “Buddy” Hasten, president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, said it wasn’t easy, but it was necessary.
“Easy high-speed internet has already been deployed; these were the hard miles,” Hasten said in an interview with Arkansas Business. “Co-ops are democratically controlled. The members said, ‘We want this,’ and then we just had to find smart ways to do it from a business perspective to make it viable, just like we have electricity.”
The cooperatives held a press conference at the Arkansas State Capitol on Sept. 19, where state Sen. Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, Arkansas House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, Arkansas Senate President Bart Hester, Washington County Judge Patrick Deakins and Arkansas Broadband Director Glen Howie spoke in favor of the cooperatives’ work in deploying broadband. The conference also featured a customer testimonial from Jimmy Moore, a generational rancher from Franklin County who received broadband from the co-ops.
Many of the speakers discussed the impact of broadband deployment on business in the state. Moore said before his property had broadband, he struggled to bid on calf and bull sales because of slow internet speeds, but now he can easily watch sales in states like Montana and California. And Irvin gave an example of a constituent who became a “thriving” e-commerce seller after receiving broadband internet.
“With the rise of startups and small businesses, it’s more important than ever to ensure that all businesses have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed,” Shepherd said at the conference. “They’re driving economic growth and job creation, and so broadband access is what allows businesses to connect to a wide range of suppliers and enable digital entrepreneurship.”
And the cooperatives aren’t done yet. Hasten said in the interview that the plan is to finish the $2.2 billion left for buildout, connect “everybody” through middle-mile provider Diamond State Networks and then look to lowering costs through wholesale fiber. He also said there may be room to collaborate with co-ops in surrounding states to bring faster connectivity and more services to Arkansas.
Since 2018, the cooperatives have been working on a statewide fiber ring that’s overbuilt with excess capacity and connects the co-op’s operational and communication infrastructures. The excess capacity allows for large retailers to lease the capacity and decrease the cost of broadband for customers.
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