THAT: The Board of Regents of Higher Education authorizes Montana State University to execute a Right-of-Way Easement with the Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc. on the Eastern Agricultural Research Station in Richland County, Montana.

EXPLANATION: The Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc. requests an easement for laying of fiber optic, copper and coaxial cable on the Eastern Agricultural Research Center as part of its initiative to provide state of the art telecommunications services to the area. The wiring of the buildings will be provided without charge to EARC. The advantages to EARC is access to an improved level of telecommunication services in the future. Currently, EARC purchases telephone services from another national provider. It is hoped that once wired, EARC will be able to purchase telephone services from Mid-Rivers at a lower rate.