North Dakota is Expanding Broadband’s Reach with Capital Projects Fund

North Dakota is the 19th largest state in terms of land area with more than 70,000 square miles yet is the 3rd smallest in terms of population with fewer than 800,000 residents. In too many rural areas of the U.S., residents struggle to get connected because commercial telecommunications providers are unable to recoup the cost of building infrastructure. But North Dakota has a history of urging providers to aggressively pursue federal funding opportunities. With support from the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, North Dakota is poised to extend broadband to 40% of the locations in the state still lacking high-speed internet access.

Rural cooperatives, or co-ops, also play a huge role in North Dakota. Co-ops including the Dickey Rural Telephone Company, the Dakota Central Telecommunications Cooperative, and a co-op of co-ops, the Dakota Carrier Network (DCN), cover much of North Dakota and provide broadband to many of its residents.