Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced on February 5, that the Alabama Anchor Institution Middle Mile Grant Program will award $188 million to 12 ISPs. Broadband Communities reported that the initiative will focus on middle-mile projects to anchor institutions, defined as schools, hospitals, medical facilities, and government and public safety buildings.
“Rural Alabama, like so many other places in the state, is in need of increased access to high-speed internet, and today we are taking a significant stride in our journey toward full broadband access,” said Gov. Ivey.
The Alabama Fiber Network, a grouping of eight electric co-ops and subsidiaries, was the biggest winner. The co-op was awarded $128.8 million to install 1,776 miles of middle-mile fiber across 21 counties, connecting 438 anchor institutions. According to the co-op, construction will take about 30 months to complete.
“Our goal is to work with last-mile service providers in an open access manner to make certain these providers have the bandwidth they need to serve Alabamians who lack affordable and scalable high-speed broadband,” said Chris Skelton, the chief technology officer for the Alabama Fiber Network.
Additional funds were awarded to:
- Central Alabama Electric Cooperative
- Coosa Valley Technologies Inc.
- Cullman Electric Cooperative
- Farmers Telecommunications Corp.
- JMF Solutions
- Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Corp.
- Point Broadband
- Spectrum Southeast
- Tombigbee Electric Cooperative
- Uniti Fiber
- Yellowhammer Networks
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