AT&T snagged $33 million to roll out its fiber optics service in Oldham County, Kentucky. The expanded fiber network will offer symmetrical speeds of up to five gigs and cover over 20,000 customer locations throughout the county.
David Voegele, judge executive of Oldham County, told Fierce AT&T signed a two-year contract Wednesday with the local legislature. AT&T is likely to begin construction in about six months and the project could take up to 16 months to complete, he said. Coverage is expected to become available gradually across the county sometime next year.
Out of the $33 million allocated, AT&T will dedicate $25 million to the project with Oldham County contributing a $8.5 million grant. A portion of the $8.5 million will be made available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), though the exact amount has yet to be determined, Voegele said.
This latest project is worth nearly as much as AT&T’s $39.6 million bid, awarded in October, to build out fiber across Indiana’s Vanderburgh County.
Oldham County spent the last several months considering a viable operator to lead the fiber buildout. AT&T is one of the primary providers serving Oldham County, Voegele said, alongside Charter Communications' Spectrum brand. Silica Broadband, a local provider, offers a significantly smaller scope of coverage compared to the former two companies. Approximately 24,000 homes and businesses in Oldham County are considered unserved or underserved, he explained.
“When all the dust settled, we decided AT&T would be the company most able to fulfill its commitment to us and provide a fair grant amount,” said Voegele. AT&T’s experience in operating and maintaining fiber networks, he said in a statement, is “critical to developing economic and educational opportunities in the county.”
AT&T continues to pursue a variety of public-private partnerships nationwide, having identified well over $1 billion in prime grant opportunities.
AT&T made fiber available to over 30,000 Kentucky locations in 2021, and on the wireless side added nearly 50 new macro and over 130 small cell sites last year. It has invested nearly $800 million over the past three years to deploy broadband throughout the state.