"Big city broadband. Rural reality." That's how Socket Telecom is touting the fiber-optic network it's set to build in central Callaway County and a sliver of eastern Boone County.

This month the US Department of Agriculture awarded Socket a $16.6 million grant and a $7.1 million loan under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Within the next 90 days, Socket will use that money to start building a fiber-optic network capable of serving more than 3,000 homes and businesses.

In the process, Socket will change as a company.