Socket OK to bring fiber optic to Fulton, Callaway

Callaway County and Fulton are one step closer to having broadband Internet access.

As USDA rural development officials visited Socket Internet in Columbia Wednesday to meet with Socket executives and area officials to discuss the installation of a fiber optic cable trunk running from Columbia to Fulton and into Callaway County, they received the news that their environmental permits had been approved.

"We're starting to get contracts in place, and we learned today that our environmental permits were verbally approved, so now we can get started with construction," said Matt Kohly, Socket's director of government affairs and carrier relations. "We hope to be breaking ground in 60 to 90 days."

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.