Alabama Cable Providers Seek Investment of $13 Million in Broadband Expansion for Rural Alabamians Currently Without a High-Speed Internet Option
MONTGOMERY, AL (March 20, 2020) – Alabama cable providers plan to invest more than $13 million to bring broadband telecommunications services to rural Alabama citizens who do not yet have high speed internet services. The investment would be incentivized through $4.67 million in grant funding from the Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund (ABAF), a state fund established in 2018 to help extend broadband services to rural Alabamians who do not yet have them. ABAF grants fund up to 35% of project costs to extend broadband technology, enabling the full $13 million cable provider broadband investment.
For the current ABAF grant cycle, the 18 grants applied for by Alabama cable providers cover nearly 8,000 rural Alabama homes and businesses, including 35 community anchor locations such as rural hospitals and libraries. The grants seek to serve the highest number of unserved homes, businesses and community anchor points (such as hospitals and libraries) for the least cost and best level of service. Projects including the highest broadband speeds are emphasized in the evaluation process.
“Alabama’s cable companies have been providing broadband to rural consumers since the late 1990s and we continue efforts to expand broadband in rural areas,” said Michelle Roth, executive director of the Alabama Cable and Broadband Association. “The projects in these grant applications extend high speed internet services to rural Alabamians who currently have no access to them.”
Roth listed three ACBA member applications across north, central and south Alabama as examples of potential broadband investment:
- Morgan City (north Alabama, OTELCO):
- Includes construction of 59 route miles along US Highway 231, Rescue Road, Pine Ridge Road, Union Grove Road, and Greenbriar Cove Road, serving 1,649 locations in total.
- Autaugaville (central Alabama, Charter):
- The project will encompass 659 potential customers within the town limits.
- Coffee, Geneva and Houston counties (southeast Alabama, Troy Cablevision)
- Broadband connections in or near the following cities or towns: Black, Coffee Springs, Cottonwood, Hartford, Madrid, Rehobeth, Samson, Slocomb; near unincorporated areas of Chancellor, Dundee, Earlytown, Fadette, High Bluff in Geneva County; unincorporated areas near Battens Crossroads and Central City located in Coffee County; and unincorporated areas near Big Creek in Houston County.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), which administers the grant program, may rule out applications which they feel do not meet the grant standards of extending broadband to unserved parts of the state. In addition, Roth said grant guidelines also allow for challenges to applications by existing providers. “We are for a fair and open process that does not use taxpayer dollars to duplicate service to customers who already have access to broadband service. In light of the current public health concerns that are forcing our students online for their education, we’ve all got to make sure we first roll out new broadband service to rural customers who don’t already have it.”
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About ACBA:
Founded in 1965, the Alabama Cable and Broadband Association provides its members with a unified voice on issues affecting the cable and telecommunications industry, serving as the advocate for our cable providers, operators, suppliers and programmers. Alabama’s cable industry provides rural, urban and suburban broadband telecommunications services to residents and businesses across the state’s 67 counties. Cable providers employ more than 2,800 Alabamians, enable more than 24,000 direct and indirect jobs, and have a total economic impact in Alabama of $3.6 billion.