Windstream is targeting roughly 8,300 additional locations in Georgia with its Kinetic fiber network, thanks to a new public-private partnership with the state’s Union County.
The $20.5 million project will provide fiber to homes, businesses and schools across Blairsville, Suches and nearby parts of the county. Kinetic plans to lay about 550 miles of underground optical fiber cable for the deployments, which are expected to be completed in 2024.
Union County is committing $11.2 million in state grant money from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), along with $500,000 in matching funds. Kinetic is investing $8.9 million into the project and will cover any cost overruns.
Construction is set to begin early in the second half of this year, a Windstream representative told Fierce, with the company working now on getting engineering and permitting squared away. The partnership is part of Windstream’s plan to build 95,000 new fiber locations in Georgia this year.
The representative added Kinetic has partnered with 18 counties across the state that were awarded ARPA State Fiscal Recovery Funds. Additionally, the provider has agreements with two state electric cooperatives and has worked on a couple of small community projects in Chattooga County and Allentown, Georgia.
“We appreciate the state supporting Kinetic’s partnership with the county and investing in the future of our community,” stated Mitch Griggs, executive director of the Union County Development Authority. “Similar to the North Georgia Network initiative undertaken with NTIA and BTOP [Broadband Technology Opportunities Program] funding several years ago, this broadband expansion will greatly enhance Union County’s telecommunications infrastructure.”
Before NTIA began overseeing the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, the agency managed two broadband grant programs: BTOP and the State Broadband Initiative. The North Georgia Network co-op has used around $33 million in BTOP funding to deploy fiber to over 42,000 locations.
Windstream’s Kinetic is one of several providers that has chased state funding opportunities in Georgia. It was the third largest recipient (behind Comcast and Charter) in Georgia’s broadband funding round in January, snagging $34.9 million to cover 4,509 locations.
In 2022, Windstream won grants across Georgia and five other states totaling more than $202 million, according to Fierce’s informal tally.
As for Windstream’s broader fiber ambitions, Kinetic President Jeff Small told Fierce in March the provider hit 300,000 passings in 2022 and plans to reach a similar target this year. Windstream also intends to leverage both state and federal funds to build out fiber to the farthest reaches of its footprint.