$1 million grant to fund broadband Internet access for Gabbs, population 318

Think your Internet bill is expensive? Check out the cost to bring broadband to Gabbs.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday awarded a $1 million grant to a Las Vegas company to build broadband Internet access in the Nye County town of 318 people. That's around $3,300 per resident.

But it's money well-spent, said Kevin Hayes, vice president of Arizona Nevada Tower Corp., the wireless infrastructure developer that received the grant. In addition to erecting wireless towers, the company will build out the town's community center, currently an empty shell, and add a computer lab for residents who don't have computers at home. Plus, though the company's grant application listed only the town's 318 residents as its potential customer base, areas outside Gabbs are home to hundreds more who need service, Hayes said. And that doesn't count area public-safety agencies and travelers who need cell-phone access.

"In towns with less than 2,500 people, the things we take for granted aren't available," Hayes said. "The argument can be made that people made a choice to live out there, but broadband has become a utility. When people have limited access to entertainment and education, that's where these grants do good."

Internet service will also give residents of the old mining town about 100 miles east of Carson City access to telemedicine, making health care more available, and it will allow them to do business outside the state or overseas, Hayes said.

Gabbs' onramp to the information superhighway is part of $103 million Agriculture Department officials will dole out in 16 states through its Rural Development Community Connect program, designed to improve high-speed Internet access in rural areas. The Gabbs grant was the only one in Nevada.

Jonathan Adelstein, rural utilities service administrator for the Agriculture Department, said keeping rural communities out of the high-speed loop prevents them from "making their complete contribution to the economy and life of the state."

"Young people won't stay in a community that doesn't have broadband. There's no future," Adelstein said. "There are fewer job opportunities, fewer educational opportunities, fewer health-care opportunities. We want to see all of these small rural communities in Nevada thrive to the degree they can, to reach their full potential. This is an investment in the future of Nevada. These people will now be able to pay taxes and really contribute to the economy and vibrancy of the state."

With the grant, Internet access will be free to residents of Gabbs for two years.

Other states receiving funding are: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Compared to the grants in some states, the Gabbs deal is a steal. The $570,800 that Crystal Broadband Networks got to upgrade Internet access in Birdsong, Ark. -- population 37 -- amounts to $15,427 per person. In Brumley, Mo., which has 109 residents, Plateau Wireless will invest $570,800, or more than $5,200 per person. And in Heidelberg, Ky., which had a population of zero in the 2000 Census, Crystal Broadband Networks will spend $576,400 on broadband infrastructure.

The Gabbs upgrade is Arizona Nevada Tower Corp.'s fourth Agriculture Department grant in the state. Through the funding, it has built infrastructure at Walker Lake and across central Nevada. It has received $8.5 million in grants and loans, not including the latest award. Hayes said there's opportunity for more upgrades.

"There are a lot of isolated communities in Nevada," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@review
journal.com or 702-380-4512.