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Alabama awarded $148.3 million in Capital Projects funding to 16 ISPs
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Charter bagged the most funding with 23 grants totaling $44.8 million
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Some other big ISPs and electric co-ops also made the list of awardees
Rev up your engines, folks. Alabama is speeding broadband builds with another pot of grant money.
The state just dished out $148.3 million in Capital Projects funding, a few weeks after awarding $188 million in grants toward middle mile projects. The money will enable 16 ISPs to connect nearly 54,000 households, businesses and community anchor institutions.
Charter scored a whopping 23 grants totaling $44.8 million. The operator will use that money to provide broadband services across 25 counties, aiming to cover 22,000 homes and businesses.
Not only did Charter previously win $7.3 million in Alabama middle mile funding, but it’s also received grants from states like Nebraska, Wyoming and Kentucky. The operator frequently talks up its progress in subsidized rural passings, so it doesn’t surprise us that Charter continues to chase broadband grants.
Some other big ISPs also took a slice of the funding pie. Mediacom was the second highest grant recipient, winning $22.8 million for eight projects. It will provide broadband to almost 8,000 locations in parts of Baldwin, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe and Mobile counties.
AT&T meanwhile bagged five grants totaling around $7 million for projects in Franklin, Jefferson, Mobile, Morgan and Russell counties. Brightspeed got two grants worth approximately $388,000 to expand its network in Pickens and St. Clair counties.
Rounding out the list of awardees were:
- Central Alabama Electric Cooperative ($22.9 million)
- Coosa Valley Technologies ($12.6 million)
- C Spire ($1.65 million)
- Cullman Electric Cooperative ($4.1 million)
- Farmers Telecommunications Corp. ($7.3 million)
- Millry Telephone Co., Inc. ($3.6 million)
- Pea River Electric Cooperative ($5 million)
- Pine Belt Telephone Co. ($3 million)
- R.M. Greene Inc. ($2.9 million)
- Tombigbee Electric Cooperative ($2.8 million)
- WOW! ($2.4 million)
- Yellowhammer Networks ($5.1 million)
As you can see, quite a few electric co-ops made the cut. Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton previously told Fierce rural electric co-ops are the fastest growing segment of broadband providers and have the ability to “serve every member of their community.”
There’s lots of state broadband money to go around, especially with the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program on the horizon. We have a handy funding tracker to keep you posted on the latest grant news, so make sure you check it out.