The state of Alabama has finished awarding its capital projects funds, allocated from the American Rescue Plan, for broadband builds. This week, the state awarded nearly $42 million in remaining capital projects funds to cover 2,347 miles of broadband infrastructure, reaching more than 15,000 homes, businesses and community anchor institutions. This round of funding saw Charter's Spectrum Southeast pick up four grants totaling $19.4 million. (That's after the company won $44.83 million in the last round of grants awarded in February.) Mediacom picked up one grant for $720,905, while Brightspeed picked up two grants for a total of $209,521. Other winners included Bama Fiber ($5 million); C Spire ($5 million); Yellowhammer Networks ($3.63 million); Millry Telephone Co. ($2.84 million); the Central Alabama Electric Cooperative ($2.28 million); Farmers Telecommunications Corp. ($1.93 million); and Roanoke Telephone Co. ($912,171).

Ripple Fiber, a private ISP based in Charlotte, North Carolina, plans to start construction "in the coming months" to bring its service to Michigan, according to a press release. The move will mark Ripple's expansion beyond the Southeast and into the Midwest. The company said it expects to begin launching service "for over 60,000 Wayne County residents by 2025, while continuing to actively explore expansion opportunities in the surrounding area." Ripple Fiber announced in June that it has partnered with investment firm Post Road Group to help fund the company's planned expansion to 400,000 locations by the end of 2025.

GoNetspeed has started construction on a fiber buildout in Middletown, Connecticut. The company is investing $2.4 million to reach more than 3,000 homes and businesses. Initial customers are expected to be connected by October 2024. GoNetspeed is funded by Oak Hill Capital.

Windstream's Kinetic has gone live for 4,509 previously underserved and unserved homes in Hamilton County, Florida. The $9 million project, which saw Kinetic build out 278 miles of fiber, was made possible with $7 million in funding from Kinetic and $2 million allocated from Hamilton County.

Charter's Spectrum has gone live for more homes and businesses in North Carolina. Specifically, services launched for 580 locations in parts of Harnett County, where the company is building out with funding from the FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). Spectrum also launched services for 190 locations in Warren County, another area where it received RDOF support.

Wecom Fiber will build out a new network in Flagstaff, Arizona, with partial grant funding from the city. According to local reporting, the city council recently approved the awarding of a $2 million grant to Wecom toward the $45 million project, which is expected to reach 72,000 homes, businesses and city facilities. Construction is planned to commence later this year and will take place over the next two-to-three years. Wecom will supply the rest of the funding for the project. Wecom announced in May 2023 that it received a strategic investment from Searchlight Capital to support its fiber expansion.

Mediacom has completed a fiber network expansion project in Grand Ridge, Illinois. The new build brings fiber connectivity to more than 250 homes and businesses in LaSalle County, where Mediacom invested close to $400,000 to build out 4.25 miles of fiber.