Omaha Tribe of Nebraska is now online with the help of Media King Communications
By: Kietryn Zychal
Winsley Durand of the Omaha Chamber of Commerce brought the oversized scissors. Nichole Reiner of the Department of Economic Development brought the money — last year. And William King brought high speed internet to the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska. King hosted a ribbon cutting on the reservation in Macy on Apr. 13 where he unveiled a new wireless system for the community completed by his company, Media King Communications of Omaha.
“This man sought us out. He found it in his heart to give back to our community,” said Everett Baxter, Jr., chairman of the Omaha Tribe. “And it only took a matter of months.” Turning to King, he said, “A big ‘thank you’ to you for thinking about our people.”
According to Reiner, the system in Macy cost about $117,000. A CARES Act grant provided $115,000 and King chipped in the rest.
James Noe of Last Mile Network in Lincoln constructed the four towers in Macy that provides WiFi service. He said one of the towers is located on a hill and its signal extends for about 10 miles. Each subscriber receives a “donor” unit on their home that connects back to the tower.
Residents of Macy can purchase up to a 100-megabyte connection. Noe said only about 15 MB is necessary to stream Netflix, for example.
Media King cooperated with the competition, American Broadband, Macy’s existing telephone and in-ground cable company, to bring power to the new tower in the heart of town. The two small companies call it “coopertition.” The existing cable infrastructure on the reservation was decades old and weather and age took a toll on its ability to provide reliable internet service.
Last year, all over Nebraska, nearly $30 million in CARES Act funding helped bring high-speed internet to about 60 communities in rural areas. Internet companies paid for the remainder of the $80 million total cost.
“One of the benefits Nebraska has is that we have a ton of backbone fiber in the state,” said Reiner. Some of the new systems are fixed wireless like the one in Macy. But others are bringing fiber directly to the home, which is the most expensive option.
Reiner said, “These are communities with declining populations,” such as Champion which has a population of about 100, “and now they have better internet than some big cities. This has changed people’s lives.”
Some examples Reiner gave included being able to work from home for an international company like American Express or being able to attend college online at the University of Florida. An elderly man in O’Neill no longer has to go to UNMC to have his pacemaker checked. His doctor in Omaha can monitor it while he stays in the retirement community where he lives 200 miles away.
One example may not make students very happy. “Snow days could become a thing of the past,” Reiner said. “If all the students have reliable internet, they can stay home and still have classes."
“Broadband is a basic utility,” said Reiner. “It is the cornerstone of economic activity. If it hadn’t been for the CARES Act, these systems wouldn’t have been built.”