A bipartisan U.S. House committee has asked the head of the Rural Utilities Service for documents and a briefing on the agency’s $267 million loan to Open Range Communications Inc.
The Greenwood Village-based high-speed wireless network provider received the loan in 2008 through the Farm Bill from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. The RUS broadband program is intended to extend high-speed Internet service to rural communities.
On Oct. 6, Open Range filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $114 million in assets and $110 million in debts.
The current balance of Open Range’s loan — the largest made by the broadband program — is $73.5 million.
The committee’s letter requests a briefing at the agency’s earliest convenience “to explain the RUS application review process for the Open range loan and the oversight RUS conducted to ensure taxpayer funds were used as intended.”
Among those signing the letter to RUS administrator Jonathan Adelstein were the committee chairman, Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, and Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat.
Ann Schrader: 303-954-1967 or aschrader@denverpost.com.
