{"id":39598,"date":"2020-06-12T08:17:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T12:17:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/?p=39598"},"modified":"2020-06-18T03:32:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T07:32:57","slug":"loretto-telecom-general-manager-jason-shelton-talks-broadband-funding-on-lead-tennessee-radio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2020\/06\/loretto-telecom-general-manager-jason-shelton-talks-broadband-funding-on-lead-tennessee-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Loretto Telecom General Manager Jason Shelton Talks Broadband Funding On \u2018Lead Tennessee Radio\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">Partnerships Are Critical For Rural Broadband Expansion<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"width: 100%; height: 180px;\" src=\"https:\/\/share.transistor.fm\/e\/491d7909\" width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Jason Shelton, general manager of Loretto Telecom, was a recent guest on the podcast \u201cLead Tennessee Radio.\u201d The show is produced by the Tennessee Broadband Association.<\/p>\n<p>In the podcast interview with TNBA Executive Director Levoy Knowles, Shelton discussed funding for rural broadband expansion in Tennessee and the importance of public-private partnerships to connect rural America with future-proof technology.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the rural-most parts of the county, it is crazy how much it costs to provide broadband for those areas,\u201d Shelton said. \u201cWithout public-private partnerships, frankly it\u2019s not going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loretto Telecom, based in Loretto, Tenn., recently received a $1.05 million Broadband Accessibility Grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development to extend broadband into the St. Joe area of Lawrence County. With matching funds, Loretto Telecom is investing more than $2 million into the project.<\/p>\n<p>Shelton said Loretto Telecom divided the project into eight zones. They have already completed three zones and have begun connecting customers to fiber.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur intention is to have most, if not all, of the broadband grant construction completed before we head into the fourth quarter of the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Shelton also discussed Loretto\u2019s focus to extend fiber throughout Lawrence County.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s all we believe in,\u201c he said. \u201cIt is a future-proof network. Anything else is just a Band-Aid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cLead Tennessee Radio\u201d podcast is an opportunity to discuss issues facing Tennessee with state leaders and lawmakers. Past episodes feature\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2019\/11\/tennessee-broadband-association-launches-new-podcast-focused-on-state-leaders\/\">House Speaker Cameron Sexton, R-Crossville<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2020\/01\/lead-tn-radio-lt-gov-randy-mcnally\/\">Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2020\/02\/house-majority-leader-william-lamberth-discusses-broadband-impact\/\">House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland<\/a>;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/2020\/03\/lead-tennessee-radio-features-senate-majority-leader-jack-johnson\/\">Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin<\/a>; and many more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe cooperative and independent telecommunications companies who comprise the TNBA are working hard to ensure that everyone in rural Tennessee has access to this life-changing technology,\u201d said Levoy Knowles, TNBA executive director and host of the show. \u201cThis podcast is a great opportunity to have conversations with state and industry leaders who are on the front lines working for a connected Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLead Tennessee Radio\u201d can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Play, as well as tennesseebroadband.com.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 1.5em; height: 60px; margin-top: 1.5em;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/lead-tennessee-radio\/id1486216678\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-39291\" role=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/US_UK_Apple_Podcasts_Listen_Badge_RGB.svg\" alt=\"Listen on Apple Podcasts\" width=\"204\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7tTrErQHavCpHdYHN72izx\"><img class=\"alignleft wp-image-39292\" role=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/spotify-podcast-badge-blk-grn-165x40-1.svg\" alt=\"Listen on Spotify\" width=\"205\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy50cmFuc2lzdG9yLmZtL2xlYWQtdGVubmVzc2VlLXJhZGlv\"><img class=\"alignleft  wp-image-39393\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/google-podcasts-badge-340x82.png\" alt=\"Listen on Google Podcasts\" width=\"207\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/div>\r\n<div style=\"clear: both;\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Partnerships Are Critical For Rural Broadband Expansion Jason Shelton, general manager of Loretto Telecom, was a recent guest on the podcast \u201cLead Tennessee Radio.\u201d The show is produced by the Tennessee Broadband Association. In the podcast interview with TNBA Executive Director Levoy Knowles, Shelton discussed funding for rural broadband expansion in Tennessee and the importance&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":39601,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,305],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tennesseebroadband.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}