WTC Awarded State Broadband Grant to Bring Fiber to Rural Kansans

Wamego, KS, 12-15-2022 – Rural areas of Riley, Pottawatomie, Shawnee, and Geary counties will soon be on the winning side of the digital divide.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly announced today that WTC is one of six recipients of grants that will result in more than $23 million in investment funding to build high-speed fiber broadband across 12 counties in Kansas. These grants come via the Kansas Capital Project Fund Broadband Grant Program facilitated by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development.

WTC, based in Wamego, is well poised for the program following successful grant applications in previous years where they implemented Fiber to the Premise (FTTP) technology. The new award will bring fiber broadband to over 118 square miles of rural Kansas encompassing 814 homes, businesses/farms, and public institutions. The total project brings $7,200,000 in funding to provide high quality broadband to underserved, economically stressed, and low-population areas of the state.

“I work from home and have four kids who rely on the Internet to complete online schoolwork. The stress of not having quality Internet over the last 3 years has taken a toll on our family,” commented Danielle Sammons, a remote worker in one of the funded areas. “To be this close to a major city and not have the option of Internet in this day and age is incomprehensible. Having WTC will allow everyone in this area to participate and take advantage of all the benefits Internet provides,” she added.

“As we worked through the grant application process, the support we received from the community members was tremendous. To see their reaction to this opportunity shows an incredible amount of community commitment,” stated Jeff Wick, General Manager of WTC.  “WTC understands the challenges of delivering advanced communication services in today's connected environment, so having the opportunity to bring fiber to these underserved areas of the state is extremely exciting and rewarding for us,” Wick added.

WTC is headquartered in Wamego (KS) and provides a full line of Voice, Internet, and Video services to residential, governmental, educational, and commercial clients. For more information about WTC, please visit wtcks.com/nequad or call 785-456-1000.

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