County approves contract for broadband study

WALLACE –– Shoshone County is working diligently to make sure all of its residents have access to reliable, high-speed internet.  

County Grants Administrator Colleen Rosson met with the Shoshone County Commissioners on Wednesday to approve a contract between the county and D Covey Management Group, a network planning and facility management firm out of Texas, to complete a broadband network plan in Shoshone County.

In February, Shoshone County was awarded an $80,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help assist the development of the comprehensive plan.  

When Rosson applied for the grant, there were 6,800 sites across several regions of the county that don’t have access to what the Federal Communications Commission defines as broadband. These sites include homes, businesses, and other anchor locations where a stable internet connection is needed.  

Because the project is for more than $50,000, the county was required to put it out for bidding, but they only received one proposal. 

That may have been fortuitous for the county.  

According to Rosson, Debra Fuglie, D Covey’s owner and principal consultant, has experience working in Idaho.  

“She’s aware of many of the challenges we face,” Rosson said. “It’s a great fit.”

Fuglie will be tasked with going into the community for training, outreach, and seeking community input through surveys. This data, along with mapped-out assets, including cellular towers, existing fiber networks, and an environmental study will be analyzed and then sent to an engineer to design the comprehensive project plan.  

“The scope of it is holding public meetings, doing asset mapping, figuring out what infrastructure is here and how to tie into that,” Rosson said. “And then, how to maximize it and get it to the Avery’s and Murray’s of the world so that they can have the connectivity that is being required by society to be able to function.”