Freedom Fiber Looks to Human Side of Broadband, USDA Helps Fund Electric Co-op Broadband Project

The Department of Agriculture awarded Tombigbee Communications a $2.98 million grant for a rural utility broadband deployment in Alabama. Steve Foshee — president and CEO of Tombigbee Communications and its parent company Tombigbee Electric Cooperative — explained that the funding is for one of the most remote parts of a broader area that the company has targeted for broadband deployment. Tombigbee, which offers broadband under the Freedom Fiber brand, aims to deploy broadband throughout 1,000 square miles of rural Alabama where many people do not have broadband available to them at the minimum recommended speeds, explained Foshee. After conducting a feasibility study showing the entire project would cost about $40 million, the company divided the project into five phases. As Foshee explained, “The first phase was the easiest fruit to pick” and the company decided to take the project further only if Phase 1 was successful. Phase 1, which has already been undertaken, included two towns with a combined population of about 13,000 and surrounding areas and required an investment of $8 million.