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The Federal Communications Commission is providing northeast Oklahoma with more than $6.7-million to improve internet access in rural areas.

The counties included in this effort are: Nowata, Ottawa, Mayes, Delaware, and Craig County. Nowata County is getting $3.67-million for those internet access improvements.

The Federal Communications Commission said that the internet providers that get FCC funding must have everything installed and running by the end of 2025. The funding comes from the universal service fund, which is made of fees consumers pay through phone bills. The FCC said 2,400 homes and businesses in northeast Oklahoma should benefit from the broadband expansion.

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday authorized more than $240 million in funding over ten years to expand rural broadband deployment in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. These investments will connect more than 100,000 unserved rural homes and businesses in these states. Broadband providers will begin receiving funding later this month.

“Today’s announcement is another important step in our efforts to close the digital divide and connect rural Americans with the economic, healthcare, and educational opportunities made possible by high-speed broadband,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to see firsthand how funding provided through the FCC’s Connect America Fund Phase II auction is having a positive impact on the Wind River Indian Reservation in rural Wyoming. And the funding we are authorizing today will bring those same benefits and connect more rural Americans with digital opportunity.”

This represents the ninth wave of support from the successful 2018 Connect America Fund Phase II auction. Providers must build out to 40-percent of the assigned homes and businesses in the areas won in a state within three years. Buildout must increase by 20-percent in each subsequent year, until complete buildout is reached at the end of the sixth year.

More on the FFC's announcement can be found here.