MCG Expands Services to Mahaska County
Chris Hyland, Musco VP CFO, Frank Hansen, MCG Director of Business Development, and Mark Groenendyk, County Supervisor, are showing the Fiber Construction Build Map for Mahaska County. This map is on display at the Oskaloosa MCG Office or on the website https://www.mahaska.org/rural-mahaska-fiber. If you visit this website link, you will find the Mahaska County build map. There is an option for you to type in your address to find out the tentative timeline for when MCG’s fiber construction will be complete in your area.
Mahaska Communication Group (MCG) continues to expand as part of its commitment to provide communities with fast and reliable local communication services. The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors formally approved the contract with MCG in March to build infrastructure for Mahaska County broadband services.
The Board of Supervisors of Mahaska County has determined that there are broadband service deficiencies due to gaps in the capital needed for broadband providers to construct fiber optic networks or otherwise make broadband infrastructure investments, the inability of competitively priced broadband service fees to adequately repay the debt needing to be issued in order to construct broadband improvements, and the inability of providers to attract the necessary equity for the construction of broadband improvements at a reasonable rate of return. The Board formally declared the facilitation of additional broadband infrastructure investments as an economic public purpose. The County has received an award of Federal funding allocated under the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund established under the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) signed into law on March 11, 2021, and Sections 602(c)(1) and 603(c)(1) of ARPA and the funds are to be used for necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.
“Having high-speed internet at your home or business benefits everyone, from school children to parents to businesses. Many of our hog buildings and grain sites use high-speed internet for their controls so that people can monitor those buildings from anywhere.” Mark Groenendyk, Steve Wanders, and Chuck Webb, Mahaska County Supervisors.
“We are excited to partner with Mahaska County to bring MCG services to everyone within the County. MCG’s mission is to provide the communities it serves with the most reliable and affordable communication services available anywhere in the world. It has been a long-standing goal of ours to bring fiber to all of Mahaska County, and with the help of the County, it is becoming a reality. By bringing high-speed Internet services to everyone, it opens up many possibilities in agriculture, education, healthcare, and other industries.” Frank Hansen, Director of MCG Business Development.
The contract approved by the Board establishes a forgivable loan of $2 million from the County to MCG, which is taken from the ARPA funding allotted to the County for “necessary investments in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.”
