Reconnect 100% grant infrastructure investments and jobs act

The Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service awarded $24.98 million to Oklahoma Western Telephone Company, doing business as Star Search Rural TV, on May 6, 2026, under the Rural eConnectivity Pilot Program (ReConnect Program, CFDA 10.752) to fund fiber optic and ethernet cabling installation, networking equipment procurement, and retail broadband service delivery to residences, businesses, schools, libraries, and healthcare facilities in rural Lawton, Oklahoma. The award is a Project Grant with performance through May 6, 2028. The ReConnect Program expands broadband service to rural areas without sufficient access, defined at minimum as 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, through loans, grants, and loan/grant combination financing. Grant and loan/grant combination applications are scored competitively based on rurality, number of farms and businesses served, healthcare and educational facility coverage, service performance, state broadband activities, and presence of tribal lands. Oklahoma Western Telephone Company, a self-certified small disadvantaged business and community development corporation, operates exclusively as a prime grant recipient with no federal contract or subcontract activity.