A telecommunications business in South Dakota is getting a grant of over $22-million from the federal ReConnect program to establish fiber optic internet access on the Standing Rock Reservation in South and North Dakota. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Office, Standing Rock Telecommunications Inc. will use the $22-million-plus grant ($22,230,053) to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, providing high-speed internet access to the Standing Rock Reservation and socially vulnerable communities in Sioux and Corson counties. The network will benefit 426 people, 16 businesses, 104 farms and three educational facilities in Sioux County, North Dakota, and Corson County, South Dakota. USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dr. Basil Gooden and Rural Development State Directors Erin Oban, North Dakota, and Nikki Gronli, South Dakota, made the announcement Thursday (Oct. 17, 2024) in Ft. Yates. This fifth round of distribution for the ReConnect Program totals nearly $173 million in funding to connect people living in underserved areas in Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Virginia to reliable high-speed internet. The program is designed to fund the most difficult high-speed internet projects in the nation, which are typically located in the most rural, remote and unserved communities.