Broadband is coming to rural Missouri thanks to the Ralls County Electric Cooperative, with funding support from the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and political support from Gov. Jay Nixon.
Unlike North Carolina, where non-corporate broadband initiatives are discouraged, Missouri is opening its arms and throwing its support behind the plan to string 450 miles of fiber cable to deliver high-speed Internet to about 100 homes. The eventual plan is to run 1,200 miles of fiber to touch 4,500 customers and, according to Nixon, to serve as a template for similar rural initiatives across the country.
"Every classroom in this region will have access to every book ever written and every class taught in the world," said Nixon. "Just like Missouri in 1956 was the centerpiece for the interstate system, the Show-Me State will be the centerpiece" for broadband.
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