Ozark County, MO. – Ozark County, and potentially others, may soon see the implementation of Fiber Optic Internet. This comes as a result of funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, otherwise known as the COVID-19 Stimulus Package.
White River Valley Electric Cooperative will be the provider of this service, and has asked for $10 million as a sort of committed down payment for the installation of this internet in the five counties it provides to. However, many of these counties have been unable to provide the needed funds for a project this large.
Ozark County, however, has committed $1 Million to the project from recently received ARPA funds, setting them on track for the needed upgrade. When Ozark County and others received ARPA funding, they were instructed to use the money in such a way that generations to come will see the benefits of.
The project for installation is forecast to take 5 years time, but projections say that most of the county should become online through Fiber Optics by only 3.
