The chirping birds, and the occasional passing car are about the only sounds heard in the small community of Kenwood. It is located about 20 minutes outside Locust Grove. The only thing taller than its hills is its cellphone tower, which will be a year old in March. Katie Smith said it has been a blessing.
“When the electricity went out, we didn’t have anything. And now since we have a cellphone tower, if you have AT&T, you’re able to use that cellphone tower,” Smith said.
The Kenwood tower was the Cherokee Nation’s first foray into broadband investments. Fifteen more in communities across the reservation are on the way.
“We’ll have the hardware there, the infrastructure there, so that these communities can not only catch up with the times but stay with the times,” Cherokee chief Chuck Hoskin said.
It is all part of an $80 million investment that will bring internet and cellular access to more than 7,000 Oklahomans. The Kenwood tower has been great for some, but others, like Raynee Nofire can only look at it.