How to Find Money to Build Your Own Network

Turning up your own network is an expensive undertaking, but can generate significant benefits. Before jumping into construction, make sure you have secured the funds to do so as well as the means to operate and maintain it.  While the financial ROI will be realized within 5 years, there are two ways to finance a new network and reduce the time to ROI.

1. Finance with the times

The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated $7.2 billion in broadband network upgrades. The US Departments of Agriculture and Commerce have begun distributing these funds to candidates who have presented their cases and need.

Specific to rural areas, the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program began distributing its near $2.5 billion in the form of grants, loans and loan guarantees in September.

2. Reduce costs by including multiple users

Before you begin building, recruit as many users as possible. Adding users has little impact on construction costs—but can dramatically reduce each user’s cost. Be sure to recruit both private and public entities.

After having secured the funds to build and the network is built, our next blog will dive into how to make sure your organization withstands today's security threats.

Learn more about how to build a private network read our free eBook, 7 Secrets to Building Your Own Fiber Network