Tri-County Rural Broadband Coalition

We empower Rural Oklahoma

Project Overview

Through our partnership with Carnegie Telephone Company, our organization is sponsoring a grant application through the Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) Capital Projects Fund. These grant applications, if approved, would bring fiber internet to almost 1,000 homes, farms, businesses, community institutions and schools throughout Caddo, Kiowa & Washita Counties in Southwestern Oklahoma. This region has been left without reliable access to high-speed internet and the time has come to change that!

Washita County

Primarily a hub of agriculture, both farming and ranching, Washita County has a range of small towns and villages that support this vital industry. Agriculture represents the foundation of employment for a large percentage of the county’s population. Many communities in this county lack fiber internet access, and instead rely on unreliable service from national providers who have little incentive to invest in this sparsely populated county.

Kiowa County

Kiowa County’s vast flat farmlands in the north give way to the majestic Wichita Mountains at its south. These ancient formations are among the oldest mountains found anywhere in North America, with their exposed granite faces showing how the years have worn down any sediment that was once there. The population here has also eroded from a once-prosperous hub to a mere fraction of its former glory. The opportunities here are hampered by unreliable internet access and a paucity of healthcare and educational options.

Caddo County

Caddo County at one time was the hub of many rail lines that crisscrossed the fertile lands. As time moved onward, farming remains a key industry here, while access to reliable internet hampers efforts to work from home at jobs that command much higher salaries than the economy here would otherwise support. Caddo County suffers from high levels of poverty and unemployment. Improved, fiber internet access can be a game-changer, and is an economic multiplier that will expand opportunities here.