Latah County makes rural broadband internet idea official
Jan. 10—The Latah County Commissioners signed a resolution Tuesday giving jurisdictions across the county power to move forward with a large-scale broadband infrastructure project.
The multi-million dollar project intends to bring high-speed internet to underserved rural cities and homes.
The entities participating in the project include the cities of Potlatch, Deary, Troy, Bovill, Kendrick, Juliaetta and Genesee. These cities and the Latah Highway Districts signed a memorandum of understanding that "demonstrate a commitment amongst entities to streamline project activities, communication, and cost-effective use of funds," said Latah County Grants Manager Christina Mangiapani in an email.
The entities can work together to administer funds, have authority over right of way access and manage fiber networks. They are all part of the Latah County Broadband Coalition along with local school districts, the University of Idaho and Gritman Medical Center.
The county has already secured $15 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to support the project.
This involves constructing conduit pathways along public rights-of-way filled with fiber optic cables. These pathways will be used by internet service providers to serve rural residences and increase internet speeds.
Mangiapani and Latah County Commissioner Kathie LaFortune said Tuesday that this will improve many facets of people's lives, including their access to telehealth and farmers' access to technology.
Mangiapani said the next steps are to design and engineer the entire dark fiber network, and build fiber networks in rural cities.
Latah County plans to apply for an additional $15 million to $20 million to complete the multi-phase buildout.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.
