Governor John Bel Edwards was joined by state lawmakers, locally elected leaders in North Louisiana and Higher Education Commissioner Kim Hunter Reed to announce a $130 million investment yesterday from the American Rescue Plan to bring more affordable and accessible internet to more than 66,000 households and small businesses through Internet Service Providers in 50 parishes. Applications for the first phase of the grant were submitted through Louisiana’s broadband grant program called Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO).
The total investment from the American Rescue Plan is $176 million, out of which $130 million is being used for this first phase. Parishes not included in this first round will have another opportunity to participate in the program. Visit www.connect.la.gov to see the list of parishes.
“We learned a great deal from the pandemic about how critical it is to have high-speed internet in Louisiana,” said Gov. Edwards. “With today’s announcement we are one step closer to reaching our goal of eliminating the digital divide in the next seven years. However, we are not just stopping here. We have another $43 million in funds from the ARP we will award by October, and we are expecting an additional significant amount of federal funds from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that will be awarded next year to continue to address access, affordability and literacy.”
In 2020, Gov. Edwards created the Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, ConnectLA, led by Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar.
“Today culminates all of the hard work that our stakeholders (teachers, parents, small business owners, public safety, parish officials etc.) have given towards addressing the digital divide,” said Executive Director Iyengar. “These investments will not only address the access issues but will create hundreds and thousands of good paying jobs that will impact people’s trajectory in their communities.”
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