High-Speed Fiber Reaches Rural Riley County Homes
A regional cooperative completed the first phase of a fiber-optic build that brings gigabit internet to hundreds of farmhouses outside Manhattan.
Hundreds of rural households outside Manhattan can now order gigabit internet service for the first time, as a regional telecommunications cooperative finished the opening phase of a multi-year fiber-optic expansion across Riley County.
The project, supported by federal broadband grants and cooperative reserves, strung fiber along county roads that commercial carriers had long deemed too sparsely populated to serve. For farm families, reliable internet has become as essential as electricity, powering everything from commodity marketing to remote medical appointments and online schooling.
"You cannot run a modern grain operation on a signal that drops every time it rains," one farmer near Leonardville said. The cooperative said the next phase will extend service farther west, though rugged terrain and distance continue to drive up per-home costs.
State officials have set a goal of universal high-speed access by the end of the decade, a target that will hinge on continued federal support.
