Lee County Awarded Funding to Expand Broadband Throughout the County

Danville Telecom was awarded $3.5 million in grant funds for their Lee County fiber-optic expansion project, over $5.5 million will be invested to improve broadband connectivity in Lee County.

A private/public fiber optic project will transform broadband connectivity in Lee County over the next generation. Approximately 60 miles of new fiber-optic “backbone” and 120 Tier 1 underserved customers will receive fiber to their residence or business over the next two years. The project also sets the stage for new connections to residents and businesses in the future.

Project partners include Danville Telecom, Southeast Iowa Regional Economic and Port Authority (SIREPA), Lee County, and Lee County Economic Development Group. Danville Telecom will own the fiber to the customer, SIREPA will own the backbone and lease it back to Danville Telecom over 10 years. Lease revenues will be used for future broadband projects. Lee County provided American Recovery Plan Act funds to SIREPA as a local match and Lee County EDG provided catalyst funds for project planning.

“Lee County Economic Development Group can take great pride in our forward-thinking in funding the planning and pre-engineering, which was the catalyst for this award,” said Lee County EDG President & CEO Dennis Fraise. “This project is an outstanding partnership between Lee County EDG, Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, the Southeast Iowa Regional Economic & Port Authority, Danville Telecom, and the Lee County Board of Supervisors.”

Planning started in early 2021 to identify broadband deserts in Lee County. It progressed to a backbone concept and user-by-user plan to serve Tier 1 underserved areas identified by the Iowa Chief Information Officer. The backbone will provide necessary data hauling to the Tier 1 areas and be a jumping-off point for future broadband projects.

“The project happened due to strong partnerships throughout Lee County,” said Mike Norris, Executive Director of Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission and Administrator of SIREPA. “This is a generational investment in broadband and sets the stage for more connectivity in the county.”

Tim Fencl, General Manager of Danville Telecom said “This grant award is a great opportunity for Lee County residents that are unserved to be able to connect to a reliable, future-proof, broadband network. We look to connect even more residents in the future.”

“This is a great day for Lee County residents, especially those living in rural areas that do not currently have access to good broadband services,” stated Lee County Board of Supervisor Rick Larkin. “We are excited to partner with other groups to help fund this initiative that will bring county residents many economic and educational opportunities.”

Lee County EDG worked with Danville Telecom and our school districts to identify broadband deserts throughout the county. One of the biggest challenges in expanding connectivity is how service is being reported. The current system goes by census tract, if one household has access to broadband within a census tract then the entire area is considered served. Lee County EDG conducted a pre-engineering study to get a better picture of what areas of the county are truly served and at what level.

Lee County Board of Supervisor Garry Seyb Jr. commented, “I am very excited to see what will be a major step forward in broadband access and redundancy in Lee County. This project will set the stage for continued expansion of quality broadband service for years to come.”

The Lee County project was one of thirty-nine awardees out of 178 applicants. “Expanding broadband across our state continues to be a top priority,” said Gov. Reynolds. “It is clear by the shear volume and scope of applications that the need is there. Today’s award announcement will go a long way toward meeting that need, and we won’t stop here.”

Due to the overwhelming amount of interest and success of this program, the State of Iowa will expedite a new grant opportunity utilizing ARPA federal funds to build upon the $100 million in state funding for this grant program. Details on this new grant opportunity will be released in the near future.