Montana West project kicks off at Buffalo Bridge
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With the Mission Mountains as a backdrop and the Flathead River singing backup, the Montana West project began at Buffalo Bridge on July 11.
The project will bring a new, high-speed fiber network to expand broadband services to the Mission Valley and Blackfeet country, according to Ronan Telephone Company CEO Jay Wilson Preston, Jr.
Preston said both mobile and Internet services are offered in the valley but neither the price nor the service is competitive with cities.
“The price for the Internet is two to 10 times higher than for the same services in urban American,” Preston said.
According to Preston, the Montana West project will provide fast, affordable Internet to approximately 31,000 homes and 3,200 businesses, going south to Missoula and north to Kalispell with legs from Elmo to Hot Springs.
Then the project will move on to the Blackfeet Reservation. Construction for the 300-mile project will take approximately two and a half years with completion estimated to be in the middle of 2013.
Ronan Telephone Company received the $13.7 million American Recovery and Reinvestment grant for the project in September of 2010.
The grant stimulated reservation economy by stipulating that seven tribal members be hired for the Montana West project. July 11 was the first day for the new hires who were going through orientation, OSHA training and cross training on equipment.
To begin the project, Ronan Mayor Kim Aipperspach, Lake County Commissioner Ann Brower, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council member Carole Lankford, Salish Kootenai College President Emeritus Joe McDonald and Preston donned Montana West hardhats, picked up golden shovels and dug into the dirt.
“This project is a remarkable example of what happens when Montanans work together,” Senator John Tester said in a letter read by Tester staffer Virginia Sloan.
