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Colo Telephone updates Story County on fiber projects, BEAD award for Fernald area
Summary
Colo Telephone Company reported completed projects that added service to dozens of locations, described a recent BEAD award covering roughly 97 Fernald-area locations and said engineering is underway with construction expected next year.
Shane Dalton, speaking for Colo Telephone Company, told the Story County Board of Supervisors that the company completed two recent fiber projects that extend broadband to rural locations. He reported Project 48 (completed July 2022) provided access to 11 right-of-way locations, nine of which currently have active service; Project 51 (completed February 2026) passed 127 unserved or underserved locations, passed an additional 90 locations and included about 56 miles of mainline fiber and 115 customer drops (66 currently have active service).
Dalton said Colo received a BEAD-funded award that includes about 97 locations covering the Fernald area; the project is in engineering and, because of BEAD requirements, construction cannot start immediately but is expected to begin after those steps are complete with an estimated finish by the end of next year. "A lot of them we have heard from, but they already had contracts with Starlink or some other provider that they're waiting to expire," Dalton said, explaining why some drops are not yet active. The board did not take additional action beyond receiving the report.
