Grace Selected to Serve on Oklahoma Rural Broadband Expansion Council

Oklahoma’s Senate Pro Tempore Greg Treat appointed OEC CEO Patrick Grace to serve on the Rural Broadband Expansion Council to represent the interests of rural electric cooperatives. Created upon the passage of HB4018 during the 2020 regular session and authored by Speaker of the House Rep. Charles McCall and Sen. James Leewright, The Rural Broadband Expansion Council is directed to study rural broadband access in Oklahoma. It requires the study to divide the state into separate geographic areas based on existing broadband capability, cost of service, estimated costs for improving access, likelihood of changes in access in the future and other information as deemed relevant by the council.

“If this pandemic has done anything, it’s proven how vitally important rural access to reliable broadband really is,” said Grace. “We continue working as quickly as we can to get access to all of our members, but the reality is not all parts of Oklahoma are seeing this drive of broadband into rural areas.

I am happy to help serve alongside lawmakers and other decision makers who can perhaps get the ball rolling a little quicker statewide.

Leewright and Rep. Logan Phillips, legislative appointees to the council, said previous efforts to develop a plan for expanding broadband in the state had been "piecemeal." They said they hoped the council would help produce a cohesive, private sector-driven plan and help identify weaknesses and road blocks in existing statute that could be addressed to help expand high speed internet throughout Oklahoma, particularly underserved areas.

“The council meets regularly and hopes to devise a plan that can be adopted in the next legislative session,” said Grace. “Until then, we will stay focused on serving our members and broadband subscribers to the best of our abilities.”