Kentucky awarded $5.8M for “Internet for All” funding
FRANKFORT, Ky. (KFVS) - Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced that the state will receive a federal “Internet for All” grant award of $5.8M to support the expansion of high-speed, reliable internet throughout the commonwealth.
The grant comes after the state applied for and was awarded the funding through the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. BEAD will provide over $42B to states and U.S. territories to expand high-speed internet access by funding broadband planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs.
The grant was awarded to Ky. through the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The funding will go to:
- Identification of unserved and underserved locales;
- Increasing capacity of Kentucky’s broadband office;
- Asset mapping to identify existing activities that support the project’s goal and identify gaps in access, affordability and adoption;
- Collaboration with Kentucky’s state digital equity plan; and
- Local engagement with unserved, underserved and underrepresented communities to better understand barriers to adoption.
This funding will help to further boost Gov. Beshear’s commitment to expand high-speed internet access to areas with unserved populations or those with download speeds of 10 Mbps or less.
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