Growing Fiber: Funding Expanding Broadband Service
In 2020, when you, the members, approved us to go into the broadband business, we planned to build the fastest, most reliable internet service available anywhere. We did that.
Today, 100% of our service territory has access to broadband services. That’s every consumer, even those who live at the farthest ends of our lines. But we didn’t want to stop there.
We knew there were areas around our service territory that were unserved and underserved with broadband. Our plan has always been to provide homes and businesses in those areas with the same service we built for you, our members. But it’s an expensive undertaking that we cannot do without assistance.
Last month, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) made 2 announcements that are going to help us. The first came Feb. 12, when Gov. Kay Ivey awarded the recipients of the Alabama Anchor Institution Middle Mile (AIMM) grants. The second came Feb. 27, when Ivey awarded recipients of the Capital Projects Fund (CPF) grants.
I’m proud to announce that between those 2 grant programs, our broadband subsidiary — Coosa Valley Technologies — received nearly $20 million. From the AIMM program, we were awarded more than $7 million, and from the CPF program, we were awarded $12.5 million.
Our applications to these grant programs included 14 projects— 3 for AIMM and 11 for CPF. Of those, we were awarded all 3 AIMM projects and six of the 11 CPF projects. I will say that while we didn’t win all the projects we wanted, the grant funding levels for those we did win will pay for a higher percentage of the buildout costs than some other awarded grants.
The 3 AIMM grants we won are tremendous. They will extend our fiber network into communities such as Jacksonville, Pell City and Piedmont, among others, and provide future opportunities for us to grow. A key tenet of this program is connecting community anchor institutions, which include government facilities, schools, hospitals, and community centers among others.
The six CPF grants are intended to help us build fiber directly to homes and businesses. The communities we will reach with the help of these funds are in eastern Shelby, western Talladega, southern Etowah, and northern Calhoun counties.
The money awarded under these grant programs will help expand our ability to provide true broadband internet service to tens of thousands of new customers in some of the most remote and rural parts of the counties we serve. Our broadband will help improve the quality of life and provide opportunities to the residents and business owners in those communities they otherwise wouldn’t have.
It took a lot of work to earn these grant awards: from the staff who worked together to identify those areas we could apply for, to the consultants who helped us draft the applications for each of the 14 projects, to our board of trustees for supporting the vision and leading the charge to provide broadband services to those who truly need it. I am fortunate to work with a fantastic team of individuals, and together we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.
We hope April is a good month for you and that your spring is off to a good start.