CROWDER, Okla. (OBV) – The Oklahoma Broadband Office and Canadian Valley Telephone are working together to give high-speed internet service to residents in Crowder.
The $1.7 million high-speed internet expansion project is underway in Crowder. Expansion work began in mid-June, according to Broadband Office officials.
“What we’re breaking ground on today in Crowder is more than infrastructure — it’s the groundwork for a future where every Oklahoman, no matter their ZIP code, has a fair shot at success. In Crowder and across rural Oklahoma, reliable broadband will open doors to innovation, education, and economic growth — empowering communities to shape their own future in a connected world,” said Broadband Office Executive Director Mike Sanders.
The expansion project will connect 426 homes and businesses with broadband internet using fiber optic technology.
The effort is funded by a $1.3 million federal grant that the Broadband Office awarded to Canadian Valley Telephone last year. Canadian Valley Telephone contributed $430,000 in matching funds.
“The grant funds awarded to Canadian Valley Telephone will help to ensure all rural areas serviced by Canadian Valley Telephone will have access to Fiber Internet. It is of utmost importance to CVT that residents of rural Oklahoma have the same technological advantages as residents in urban areas,” said Orlean Smith, president and owner of Canadian Valley Telephone. “CVT has served these rural communities since 1927 with telecommunications. It’s exciting to bring the most advanced technology to rural Oklahoma and continue our almost 100-year legacy of providing rural Oklahomans with the telephone, internet and video services they want and need to live, work and play.”
The Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board has awarded around $525 million in grants to internet service providers. Matching funds from those providers has brought the total broadband investment in Oklahoma to more than $840 million.
Broadband expansion is happening across the state, with at least one project in 59 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties. OBO has awarded over 180 projects to bring high-speed access to more than 69,000 homes and businesses.
More than $768 million in additional grant funds offered through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) program are currently available to internet service providers, according to OBO officials.
