Amador County - The United States Department of Agriculture has finalized approval of a $267 million loan to provide broadband service to 518 rural communities in 17 states. Colorado-based Open Range Communications made the agreement with USDA Rural Development. In addition, Open Range has secured $100 million in financing from a private equity arm of the JP Morgan Chase Company. Largely rural county’s like Amador will see a portion of the funding. Although recent efforts have improved the breadth of broadband coverage, approximately 25 percent of Amador County currently has no high-speed broadband access. Currently, our region has about 45 percent coverage. Back in March of 2008, the Amador County Board of Supervisors supported an ongoing plan to use state technology grants to expand broadband connections across a five-county Central Sierra region. Michelle Shelton, information and assistance projects manager for the Amador-Tuolumne Community Action Agency, warned at that time that the region was falling quickly behind the global market. Open Range will use Wi-Max technology to offer wireless broadband service and satellite services, enabling rural residents to connect to the internet almost anywhere in the country. Details over when the plan will be implemented are still being discussed. Story by Alex Lane