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Glenwood awarded nearly $982,000 to bring fiber to 53 rural York County locations
Summary
Glenwood told the York County Board it won a Nebraska Broadband Bridge grant to serve 53 unserved locations across York County with about 34 miles of fiber. Work is expected to begin in April, with customer hookups targeted in mid-to-late July; the award is $981,961.98 and the full project cost is roughly $1,000,402.83.
Glenwood representatives told the York County Board their application to the Nebraska Broadband Bridge program was successful, winning $981,961.98 to extend fiber to 53 unserved rural locations in York County.
Jennifer Raymond, Glenwood business-development lead, and Aaron Musko, network engineer, said bids returned Feb. 7 pointed to Alpha Construction (Corning, Nebraska) as the likely contractor. Glenwood said it expects to finalize a contract within weeks and to have plows in the ground by April, with customers beginning to be connected by mid-to-late July. The project includes about 34 miles of new fiber.
Service and costs: Raymond told the board the grant requires reporting and speed-testing to the Nebraska Public Service Commission and sets a required baseline of 100/100 Mbps. Glenwood said its slowest consumer package for the project will be 300 Mbps and that planned equipment could support up to 2 Gbps to the end user. Installation (drop) costs vary by property; Glenwood estimated an average drop cost of about $2,000 per location but said under the grant the end user does not pay that installation fee.
Local coordination and contracting: Glenwood said the county committed $400,000 toward application competitiveness in an earlier round; the company emphasized coordination with the county highway superintendent and local plow companies to manage restorations where fiber is trenched. Board members asked whether Glenwood will pursue future federal/state broadband opportunities; Glenwood said organizational applications are open with the Nebraska Broadband Office and being accepted now.
Next steps: Glenwood will forward electronic copies of the agreement for county legal review; the board will confirm whether prior authorization covers signature or whether the board must take a separate vote to grant signing authority. Glenwood said construction timing is subject to weather and regulatory permitting; testing obligations to the Nebraska Public Service Commission will continue after service is active.
