CHAMPAIGN, Ill.– ProTek Fiber is installing 700 miles of fiber to provide direct fiber-to-the-home service for more than 10,000 households, farms, businesses, and community anchor institutions.
ProTek Fiber secured a $21 million loan through Farmers State Bank of Alto Pass, guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to bring fiber to rural residents in Franklin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Union, Williamson, and Saline counties.
“Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, USDA is committed to bridging the high-speed internet gap for people all across rural America, including here in rural Illinois,” said USDA Rural Development Illinois State Director Jesus Ortega. “From farmers, businesses, schools, creative professionals and more, fiber-to-home service is essential to the work of people in rural Illinois.”
The Rural Development investment is through its Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan program, which offers loan guarantees to lenders for their loans to rural businesses. So far, ProTek has installed approximately 3.7 million additional feet of underground fiber through this project with about 280,000 feet remaining. This project has saved dozens of jobs and will create even more.
The project involves some of the latest fiber internet technology that is available. For example, Adtran’s Mosaic One, offers SaaS and ALM fiber monitoring solution with deep passive optical network assurance. The core network hardware is Hewlett Packard Enterprises’ Juniper Networks Inc., which specializes in Artificial Intelligence-driven automation software, switches, routers and network security.
“This project is important for the rural communities in Southern Illinois and the people who live and work here,” said Ortega. “USDA Rural Development investments in high-speed infrastructure enables rural residents to access medical care from home, expands educational opportunities for students, connects businesses to new customers and markets, and creates jobs.”
USDA Rural Development invests in rural America with programs to promote rural prosperity. These programs expand access to high-speed internet, electricity, and transportation infrastructure, and support economic growth, healthcare, education, housing, and other community essentials. Discover more investment details and historical data in the Rural Data Gateway and learn more about the agency at www.rd.usda.gov/il.