KINGSTON, Okla. (KTEN) — Construction is underway on the Marshall County side of the Roosevelt Bridge that will add broadband access to more than 200 homes and businesses.
“This is the most important infrastructure buildout since the 1930s,” said Mike Sanders, executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office.
The OBC and 360 Broadband broke ground in Kingston Wednesday morning to mark the first project in the state to bring internet access to a rural region.
“This is the bridge to not only close that digital divide, but also economically speaking, healthcare speaking, educationally speaking,” Sanders said.
Almost 300 homes and businesses in Marshall County will benefit from the $4.4 million investment.
“To get fixed wireless, you need to have line of sight from the rooftop to one of our towers,” explained 360 Broadband executive Drew Beverage. “If you drive through this beautiful area, some of it is very hard geographically to be able to bring high speed fixed wireless to it.”
And this is just the beginning. Three separate grants were awarded to three internet providers to connect more than 2,100 homes in Marshall County with broadband services.
“Our goal is to continue to build for those unserved and underserved areas,” Beverage said. “There’s going to be people moving in, and to attract those people, they’re going to want high speed internet here. They’re going to want fiber optics here.”
Staff with 360 Broadband staff said the rollout of the new services is required to be complete by October 1, 2026, but they anticipate finishing a full year early.