KAMO Electric Cooperative, Inc. (KAMO Power) / K-Powernet LLC

PROJECT PURPOSE

Green Country Rural Broadband Backhaul Network KAMO Power, through its? wholly owned subsidiary, K-Powernet, leverages its existing communications assets by providing affordable, reliable internet and a backhaul network for member cooperatives, mobile carriers, schools, health care, government, business and other carriers. The existing infrastructure doesn?t have sufficient capacity to meet the growing demands of rural Oklahomans. This proposal exponentially expands this critical infrastructure throughout and beyond the Green Country region of Oklahoma, affecting 450,000+ rural Oklahoma citizens. The project is consistent with US Treasury?s guidance requiring ARPA funds be invested in broadband infrastructure projects that reliably deliver minimum speeds of 100/100 Mbps. See ?Supporting Documentation? for project specifics. KAMO requests funding of $7,183,000, to which we will add $4,789,000 in matching funds, for a total project cost of $11,972,000. This investment would exponentially expand our ability to support electric cooperatives? and others broadband service offerings. The project would create a geographically diverse network with connectivity to Internet providers in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, while ensuring future proof capacity to support the growing demands of rural Oklahoma. In addition, the proposed investment doubles down by offering similar advantages to mobile service providers, schools and other citizens throughout the area.

EVIDENCE

NTIA Indicators of Broadband Need, HUD Qualified Census Tracts, and related government agency sources all validate the need for funding broadband access in the area served by KAMO and its' member systems.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

Through our member cooperatives, KAMO serves many economically disadvantaged and sparsely populated areas of Green Country. This project will assist in bringing affordable Internet access to these areas. KAMO believes that working through our local member distribution cooperatives leads to the most impact on pandemic affected communities. KAMO?s network is available to all member distribution cooperatives, tribal organizations, government agencies and other organizations working to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. KAMO member cooperatives are also working with Tribal organizations to ensure service to these areas.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The majority of areas served by KAMO?s distribution cooperatives are specified on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Indicators of Broadband Need Map as either ?unserved? or ?underserved?. Each quarter, KAMO will collect quantitative information from our member cooperatives identifying the number of homes passed and connected, as well as other quantitative and qualitative information. Please see ?Supporting Documentation? for specific information on the area served by this project relative to the NTIA Indicators of Broadband Need map.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

None

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma