{"id":59579,"date":"2025-08-05T06:54:15","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T06:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/59579\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T06:54:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T06:54:15","slug":"58-million-internet-expansion-project-set-to-give-oklahoma-a-boost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/59579\/","title":{"rendered":"$58 million internet expansion project set to give Oklahoma a boost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to a mix of federal grants and private matching contributions, the state has already begun building out high-speed networks.<\/p>\n

OKLAHOMA, USA \u2014 Faster, more reliable internet is on the way to southeastern Oklahoma, as the Oklahoma Broadband Office launches several new expansion projects across the region.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0agency recently broke ground\u00a0<\/a>on four broadband infrastructure projects in Choctaw, Latimer, LeFlore, and McCurtain counties, representing a total investment of more than $58 million.<\/p>\n

Mike Sanders, executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, said many rural areas in the state still have extremely slow or unreliable internet access, largely because private companies have prioritized urban markets.<\/p>\n

“The fact is that rural areas of Oklahoma have been left behind for way too long,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIt is more expensive to reach those particular customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thanks to a mix of federal grants and private matching contributions, the state has already begun building out high-speed networks. That includes $30 million of investment in LeFlore County alone.<\/p>\n

When the infrastructure is complete, Sanders said residents will have access to multiple internet providers that have agreed to offer service in these underserved areas. He said the arrival of dependable internet will have wide-ranging benefits for homes, schools, and small businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you live in Heavener, Howe, Cameron, or Poteau, you should be able to compete with kids from New York City, Dallas, or Los Angeles,\u201d Sanders said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a life-changer. High-speed internet used to be considered a luxury \u2014 not anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

The expansion is funded by $39.7 million in federal grants through the Oklahoma Broadband Office, along with $19.1 million in matching funds from private provider Pine. The agency estimates that by next fall, 1,512 homes and businesses will be connected to high-speed internet via fiber-optic lines.<\/p>\n

Download the 5NEWS Mobile app on your phone:<\/p>\n

5NEWS on your schedule | Download 5+ on your TV, watch for free. How to watch the 5+ app on your streaming device<\/a><\/p>\n

Spot a typo or grammar mistake? Email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com including information related to the story and someone on our team will review it as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thanks to a mix of federal grants and private matching contributions, the state has already begun building out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[174,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-59579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-internet","9":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}