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# Rural Telco Co-op Puts Cash Into WiMax Plan
- URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/rural-telco-co-op-puts-cash-into-wimax-plan/
- Published: 2009-04-29T04:57:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T06:41:41.000Z
- Description: ASHBURN, Va., April 28, 2009 – Looks like rural WiMax provider DigitalBridge Communications has found some new friends in the rural telco business, judging by a couple of announcements today from both Digital Bridge and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), which represents some
- Author: Paul Kapustka
- Tags: NTIA, Recovery Act, Wireless, Broadband Stimulus, DigitalBridge, NRTC, Paul Kapustka, Sidecut reports, Sprint Clearwire, WiMax, Wyoming broadband, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-02-01 10:30, #added-preview-divider

ASHBURN, Va., April 28, 2009 – Looks like rural WiMax provider [DigitalBridge Communications](http://www.sidecutreports.com/2008/07/12/wimax-report-excerpt-the-wimax-tco-advantage/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) has found some new friends in the rural telco business, judging by a couple of announcements today from both Digital Bridge and the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), which represents some 1,400 rural electric and telephone utilities across 48 states.

The twin announcements – an unspecified amount of [funding by NRTC into DigitalBridge](http://www.digitalbridgecommunications.com/Portals/0/About%20DBC/DBC%5FNRTC%5Fpress%5Frelease%5F4.28.%2009.pdf?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com), and an agreement under which DigitalBridge will participate in [WiMax rollouts by NRTC members](http://www.nrtc.coop/pub/us/now/press/press%5F20090428%5Fwimax%5Fdbc.html?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) – seem squarely focused on helping rural operations get so-called “shovel-ready” projects in line to grab some of the [$7.2 billion in rural broadband stimulus funds](http://broadbandcensus.com/2009/04/the-broadbandcensuscom-list-of-ntia-comments/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) that the government will spend by September 2010.

As we dig for more information, two things jump out of these agreements: One, that DigitalBridge could secure any further funding at all in the current economy speaks volumes of the investors’ confidence that [WiMax is a technology worth betting on](http://www.sidecutreports.com/2009/03/05/the-sidecut-take-clearwire-says-game-on/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com). And two, by joining forces with the NRTC, DigitalBridge becomes a trusted supplier to all those rural telcos who might be applying for the stimulus funds — gaining the kind of access and marketing reach that a small operation like DBC might not have been able to quickly secure on its own.

Though small, DigitalBridge is well known in WiMax circles for its WiMax installations, including [mobile WiMax services](http://www.digitalbridgecommunications.com/Portals/0/About%20DBC/DBC%5FJackson%20Network%5F063008.pdf?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) in Jackson Hole, Wyo., that were arguably “the first to market” in the U.S., beating the Baltimore and Portland launches from Sprint/Clearwire.

*Paul Kapustka is editor and founder of [Sidecut Reports](http://www.sidecutreports.com/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com).*