Broadband Financing in Rural Areas and Indian Country

Rural broadband infrastructure is often financed using public and private sources of capital. Private sources tend to be community banks. But not as much is known about bank financing than about funding from government sources:

• Why banks finance rural broadband?
• How banks finance rural broadband?
• How and why banks form partnerships with public agencies?

The Community Reinvestment Act also plays a role in financing rural broadband. The new CRA affecting OCC-supervised banks broadens consideration given under the CRA to bank financing of rural broadband as “essential infrastructure.”

To learn more, join this webinar sponsored by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. You'll learn how First International Bank & Trust in Watford City, ND, USDA Rural Utilities Service, and Reservation Telephone Cooperative located in the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, ND formed a partnership to finance broadband infrastructure on the Reservation and adjoining McKenzie County.

Speakers: Teresa Whiteley, Compliance Manager, First International Bank and Trust; Shane Hart, General Manager, Reservation Telephone Cooperative; Moderator, Timothy Herwig, District Community Affairs Officer, OCC.