Month: November 2020

MTA, Alaska’s best choice for technology and communications products, has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of its ReConnect Program, which focuses on building broadband infrastructure in rural America.

MTA will use its ReConnect grant to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network, connecting 463 people to high-speed broadband in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, passing 220 lots and connecting 65 structures.

The grant is included in $11.3 million in new investments that the USDA is making to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Alaska, and is part of the $550 million Congress allocated to the second round of the ReConnect Program.

“We are proud to accept this grant from the USDA that will help us further one of our key missions at MTA – connecting as many Alaskans as possible to high-speed broadband,” MTA CEO Michael Burke said. “With the ReConnect Program, the USDA clearly recognizes that connection via technology is absolutely vital, especially during times like these, and we’re going to work with every partner we can to continue planting the seeds that will help Alaska residents and businesses grow.”

“Broadband is a cornerstone to prosperity in Alaska’s rural communities because it is essential to economic development, as well as access to health care, educational opportunities and connections to people and services,” USDA Alaska State Director for Rural Development Jerry Ward said.

For more information about the ReConnect Program, please visit www.usda.gov/reconnect.

Last year, we proudly announced that MTA would become the preferred technology provider of Wasilla’s Shoppes at Sun Mountain, powering the premier shopping destination with advanced, high-speed internet connectivity using MTA’s totalWiFi.

If that wasn’t enough, we were also thrilled to announce that a new, 6,000 sq. ft. MTA space would be a part of the Shoppes. And now, it’s finally time to unveil this home for our members and the Wasilla community alike.

So how will we use this brand-new space, which was brilliantly designed by the Native-owned and 100% women-owned SALT?

First and foremost, this location will serve as our “Wasilla hub” and features a call center office for our staff.  But it will also be fully equipped with an experiential multi-use area that will benefit members, partners and the community with interactive, high-tech features such as demonstrations of our streaming TV, home networking, and cybersecurity products.

Additionally, it will be available for members to use as a high-tech meeting space for area businesses, with an advanced presentation setup, and of course, fast and reliable connectivity. And in the weeks ahead, it will serve as the “mission control” of our 2020 (virtual) MTA Gaming Tournament, and will serve as a similar home for future gaming expos.

Closing the digital divide and deepening connections between education and technology are obviously quite important to us. Because of this, our new space will be a home for a variety of community education opportunities and workshops in the future.

We’re beyond thrilled to open this new location at the Shoppes at Sun Mountain. Empowering our members and the Alaskan community as a whole to live more connected lives is at our core, and we believe this new space achieves just that. Our hope for the future of this space is for our local Alaskan community to experience MTA in a whole new, vibrant light.

We will see you there!