The Governor Had $300 Million to Expand High Speed Internet. He Gave MOST to a Corporate Telecom Giant in the State’s Largest Counties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 15, 2022
CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org
Helena, MT – On Wednesday, Governor Gianforte signed off on a $308 million list of grants for high speed internet expansion across Montana. The money, which originated from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act, was available to telecom companies who bid for grants to expand their coverage in underserved parts of the state. However, instead of using it to support local Montana businesses, the Governor’s administration awarded Charter Communications, an out-of-state corporate telecom giant, a plurality of the grant, totalling a shocking $109 million.
The decision has – understandably – faced criticism from local Montana telecom companies, some of whom received only 1% of their grant request. Charter Communications won most of the contracts that will expand existing markets – essentially handing the telecom giant the bids that are cheaper and easier to implement and forcing local small businesses to take on the more expensive, harder-to-reach areas.
Additionally, according to analysis by the Montana Free Press, almost two thirds of all the grant money will be sent to the state’s eight most populous counties, leaving much of Eastern Montana without grant coverage. This was a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get high speed internet to the hardest-to-reach corners of Montana. Disappointingly, the state blew that opportunity.
“The Administration’s decision here smacks of corporate cronyism and favoritism,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Gianforte likes to say he’s running this state like a business – but he doesn’t seem to be doing a good job of it. Our economy needs competition in order to protect consumers. But letting a mega-corporation pick and choose their markets and a cushy $100 million dollar grant is the exact opposite of a competitive economy.”
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