Arkansas City to Get High-Speed Broadband Without Government Funding

The City of Cabot, Arkansas, is getting a high-speed broadband network that the city will own and that will be operated by Connect2First, the broadband unit of local power company First Electric Cooperative Corporation. Unlike many broadband buildouts these days, the network will be built without any government funding. Instead, the project will be funded via $20 million in bonds, which were approved by residents. Until recently, Arkansas municipalities were prohibited from owning broadband networks because of an old law aimed at preventing cities from competing with other entities. Construction already has begun on the network, which will serve 26,000 residents and businesses.