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Jackson, MS— Central District Public Service Commissioner Brent Bailey signed orders re-designating the Eligible Telecommunications Carrier (ETC) status of 28 companies to receive approximately $138,973,318 in federal funds in 2024 to continue expansion of voice and broadband internet services to unserved and underserved areas in Mississippi. An ETC requires annual certification that the telecom company has used the previous year’s funding as intended.
The Commission recertified the following carriers as ETCs:
BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Mississippi
Cellular South Licenses, LLC
TEC of Jackson, Inc.
Telepak Networks, Inc.
New Cingular Wireless/AT&T Mobility
Viasat Carrier Services, Inc.
Aristotle Unified Communications
East Mississippi Connect, LLC
Delta Fiber, LLC
Conexon Connect, LLC
Windstream Communications, LLC
4-County Fiber, LLC
The Commission recertified the following Rural Carriers as ETCs:
Bay Springs Telephone Company
Bruce Telephone Company
Calhoun City Telephone Company
CenturyTel of North Mississippi, Inc.
Decatur Telephone Company
Franklin Telephone Company
Frontier Communications of Mississippi, Inc.
Fulton Telephone Company
Georgetown Telephone Company
Mound Bayou Telephone Company
Myrtle Telephone Company
Noxapater Telephone Company
Sledge Telephone Company/Lakeside Telephone Company
Smithville Telephone Company
Southeast Telephone Company
Windstream Mississippi, Inc.
Commissioner Bailey previously signed Orders extending the ETC status of Belzoni Cable, LLC and TecInfo Communications, both located in the Central District, to continue receiving funding from the Federal Communication Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Belzoni Cable, LLC will receive $6,697,849 in RDOF funding, which will be evenly disbursed over ten years, to provide broadband services to 1,482 homes and businesses in Humphreys and Sharkey counties. TecInfo Communications will receive $11,091,762 over ten years to serve 2,713 homes and businesses in Bolivar, Sunflower and Washington counties.
“Following today’s approval and in addition to ETC recertifications approved over the last three weeks, nearly $155 million could flow to the state of Mississippi to expand affordable and reliable voice and broadband services in rural parts of the state,” Commissioner Bailey said. “For too long, residents in rural Mississippi have been patiently waiting for high-speed internet services. We must continue to prioritize those areas as these funds are critical to advancing health, education, and economic and workforce development in rural areas of Mississippi.”
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