JEFFERSON COUNTY - A partnership between service providers and county governments has helped dozens of people in rural Southeast Nebraska gain access to more reliable internet, even as funding for future projects and technologies like this grows increasingly uncertain. 

Alongside elected officials from the local and state levels, this month Diode Communications and Diller Telephone Company, Southeast Nebraska-based internet service providers, celebrated the culmination of a project that has expanded access to fiber internet to nearly a hundred people in rural Jefferson County via a public-private partnership that was made possible through funding from the Nebraska Bridge Program. 

“That’s where we as a rural telephone and communications provider hope there’s a possibility to revitalize this bridge program that worked so well from the state of Nebraska’s standpoint,” said Randy Sandman, President and CEO of Diller Telephone and Diode Communications. “Unfortunately that all comes down to funding, and the bridge program for 2025 got cut back due to budget cuts, and in the future if there would be ways to find a way to revitalize that, I think there would be more companies like us that would take advantage of it again.” 

"Broadband is not a luxury, it is a utility. And I tell my urban colleagues up there [in the Senate] that, while there aren’t a lot of people out here, we’re the Internet of Things. We use a tremendous amount of technology in agriculture, because that’s how it works," Nebraska Senator Tom Brandt said. "And it’s because of local providers that understand that, and we have some excellent programs in the state that do that."

The group celebrated the completion of the third iteration of this internet installation initiative at the home of Lonnie and Cindy Weichel, whose farm north of Fairbury was one of 79 locations that gained access to the internet through this latest partnership. Though fiber internet is more costly to install – for both the customer and the provider – proponents say the benefits far outweigh the costs compared to wireless alternatives, especially as the technology continues to improve and Americans’ internet requirements continue to expand. 

“Fiber is scalable up to multiple gigabyte speeds. Wireless, as far as I know, is going to cap out – there are new technologies getting closer to that gig, but they’re shorter distances,” Sandman said. “You’re putting more money in the ground now with this fiber, yes, but over the years, over time, you’re going to end up being money ahead with fiber technologies, and that’s what we’re trying to get through to the regulators and people making those decisions. It’s cheaper up front with wireless and satellite, won’t argue that, but at the end of the day, if we want to keep this service going for many, many years...just keep the backhoes away from that glass and we’ll be just fine.” 

"As I’ve learned in my two-and-a-half years now on the PSC, the best connection you can have is through a fiber line," said Eric Kamler, a Nebraska Public Service commissioner from Geneva. "Satellite internet and fixed wireless, those types of technologies, work, but the latency, the speed, is not ever going to be as reliable as having this hard line running right here into somebody’s home."

And that’s the same belief for the folks who actually install the fiber cables at properties like the Weichel’s farm: they say that the process is much more tedious and painstaking at the outset, but once installation is complete, it’s much more stable and reliable than other products. The process of properly installing the fiber cable is called splicing, and just like the DNA-related scientific process that shares the name, it requires a very steady hand and attention to detail.  

These machines cost tens of thousands of dollars and tell the installer if they’ve spliced the fiber to within the acceptable range. If it is, the cable is installed and the property gains access to the internet, which the Weichels have already applied to make their shop run more efficiently. 

Ultimately, this project was made possible primarily through funding from the Nebraska Bridge Program, but also significant contributions from Diode/Diller and the Jefferson County board of commissioners, who agreed to leverage ARPA funding to fill a need they see as pressing for many of their constituents, especially in the face of changing federal regulations that will very likely make it harder for rural Nebraskans to attain internet access.

"We still have a lot of work left to do, we have a lot of places in the county that are either unserved or underserved, and we have a lot of work ahead because of these definitions that are changing at the federal level," said Jefferson County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock. "The definitions have changed to now state that fiber, wireless and satellite are on an equal playing field, and we all know that’s not true. We’ve been involved at the county level working with Senator Deb Fischer’s office trying to get that turned around and connect more individuals in our community with high-speed fiber."

"It was looking good, and then the goalposts changed a little bit, but it’s not over until it’s over, so we’ll keep working at it," commissioner Danielle Schwab echoed. "[Fiber] really does make a huge difference, so I’m very glad that we are able to bring it out to our rural community, because, you’re right, it is a game-changer."

Diode’s leadership plans to use this project as proof of just how essential access to quality fiber internet is in the lives of everyday Nebraskans, especially for people like the Weichels who live in rural areas of the state.  

“There are others in the statehouse and at the federal level, in the Washington bubble, that don’t always get it, and hopefully they’ll this and say this is why we need this in rural America to help in many, many ways,” Sandman said.