innovate arkansas

Windstream Corp. of Little Rock today announced it has begun a $340,000 broadband project in Arkansas, the first of its broadband stimulus projects in the state.

According to a press release issued by Windstream, the work is taking place southwest of Harrison and will be funded in part by a federal grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Of the $340,000, $272,000 was federally funded and $68,000 was invested by Windstream.

The project involves upgrading an existing network with four miles of fiber optic cable and electronic equipment along state highways 43 and 7. The work is scheduled to be complete in the first quarter of this year.

The grants were developed to supply broadband connections to rural and remote areas where high-speed Internet services are not financially viable. Windstream won grants totaling $181.3 million for projects across 13 states, including Arkansas. The grants cover 75 percent of the cost of installing broadband. Windstream stated it would invest the remaining 25 percent, a total of $60.4 million.

For Arkansas, Windstream received $7.3 million in grants and will invest $2.4 million.

"This is an exciting day for Windstream and our customers in the Harrison area," said Julia Anderson, regional vice president of operations for Windstream. "This project will expand our broadband network into unserved areas and make a high-speed Internet connection available to approximately 320 potential customers."