CEO Message - March/April 2024

We are now looking at winter behind us and looking toward what spring has in store for us. I am writing this in January so I hope that I am safe to say that we all need more moisture in the mountains and it wouldn’t hurt for some down here with us as well. As we move into construction again for 2024, our Fiber to the Home projects are the Hays/ Lodgepole/Zortman areas, Springdale and Martinsdale areas.

Once completed, our exchanges will be building out to the members who have service with Triangle. We will have a few spots that will require additional projects assigned to them and Triangle will also start to engineer and plan for our Enhanced ACAM responsibilities. The FCC set about a new Universal Service program called Enhanced Alternative Connect America cost Model. This new program will require Triangle to build out our facilities according to the locations on the FCC Broadband Map.

Also in 2024, you are going to hear from the State of Montana about the BEAD funding for broadband deployment across the country and specifically in Montana. Triangle will not be utilizing these funds for our internal builds and will have to look at business plans with a payback for areas outside of our territorial boundaries, as we do not want to put membership dollars at risk for no return.

I appreciate the kudos our members send in for our employees. I know we have a great team, but it is always nice to have others recognize the work our employees do every day. As always our team appreciates your membership and your patronage. Stay safe and stay healthy!