More broadband expansion is coming to 16 eastern and southern Kentucky counties. The project will serve residents in counties like Bell, Lincoln, Garrard, and Letcher.
The $30.7 million project, funded primarily with federal dollars along with provider matching money, will expand broadband access to 33,000 households. Center for Rural Development President Lonnie Lawson said this means growth in the local middle mile of broadband. He said the increased use of the internet during the pandemic set the stage for more remote work.
“There’s a lot of folks that we have now put to work, working from home with big companies because they have access to it. It helps the education. It helps health care,” said Lawson.
The broadband project includes construction of 124 miles of fiber and unlimited bandwidth between network nodes. That allows for any subscribed bandwidth out to end-users. Lawson said this is not the end of expansion, just another step in that direction.
“Our service territory really covers from Campbellsville all the way to Pikeville and Ashland. So, we’re trying to make certain that all of those unserved or underserved areas get service. So, this is just one piece in that puzzle and we’ll be doing other announcements in the near future,” said Lawson.
Lawson said some residents could see new internet service in three to six months, but it will be up to 18 months to complete the expansion in all 16 counties.
* WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, fact-based journalism. Monthly sustaining donors are the top source of funding for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making
