Thanks to Gary Fields for the following update.

On November 3, the Saint Louis County Board approved financial support for the Lake County Fiber Network to expand into the northeastern portions of Saint Louis County. Lake County plans to submit a funding application for the next round of stimulus funds to expand the fiber-to-the-home network to include the area that includes Ely, Babbit, Aurora, Hoyt Lakes, Embarrass and the rural areas in-between these communities. “We are excited about adding these communities to the network,” said Paul Bergman, the Lake County Board chairman. “It allows us to double the number of subscribers, while adding proportionally less cost to serve them. Our network will be financially stronger.”

The Lake County Network will be owned by Lake County and will be developed and operated by National Public Broadband, Inc., a national non-profit organization that serves municipally owned networks. Symmetric broadband speed up to 100 megabits per second, along with voice and video services, will be available on the network. Tim Nulty, CEO of NPB, added, “We look forward to changing what people perceive as being possible – that you can serve rural areas with affordable, state-of-the-art fiber-based broadband without needing local taxpayer subsidies.” The Lake County Network will be accessible by all homes and businesses that have electrical service within its footprint.

For more information, please contact Gary Fields, CFO, National Public Broadband at gfields@nationalpublicbroadband.org