The Buildout: Kansas awards $33.5M, Utopia Fiber connects Cedar Hills

The state of Kansas issued roughly $33.5 million in broadband grants this week, including $28.5 million for 12 providers through its Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program, and $5 million for eight providers through its Broadband Acceleration Grants program. The LINC program provided funding for last-mile connections as well as middle mile networks and Internet exchange point facilities (IXPs). Providers receiving last-mile funding included KwiKom ($4.1 million), IdeaTek ($3.8 million) and Vyve ($1.2 million), among others, to reach 2,307 locations. Connected Nation, in collaboration with Hunter Newby, received $5 million to build a carrier-neutral IXP adjacent to Wichita State University's Innovation Campus, and Cunningham Communication received $847,774 for a middle mile project. With matching funds from providers, the total investment for this round of LINC projects is roughly $33.9 million. Additionally, awards through the state's Broadband Acceleration Grants program went to mostly local providers to deliver broadband to 2,294 rural locations across ten counties. The $5 million in grants will be combined with $6.6 million in matching funds for a total investment of nearly $12 million. Grants went to Blue Valley Telephone ($239,619); Haviland Broadband ($249,504); IdeaTek ($1.01 million for two projects); KwiKom ($1.4 million for two projects); Midco ($546,923); Pioneer Comms. ($349,749); SKT – Twin Valley ($615,963 for two projects); and WTC ($621,531).

Utopia Fiber, an open access municipal provider, announced it completed construction on its $5.9 million fiber-to-the-home network in Cedar Hills, Utah. Construction on the project began on June 15, 2022, and the first homes were connected in August 2023. The Cedar Hills network marks Utopia Fiber's 18th city, delivering FTTH to 2,656 residential addresses in the region.

Comcast has completed a network expansion project in Vermont, delivering service to an additional 2,000 homes and businesses in parts of its existing service territories, as well as the towns of Elmore, Eden, Sudbury, Wardsboro and Wolcott. In a press release, Comcast said the expansion is part of an overall $93 million investment in technology and infrastructure in the state. Separately this week, Comcast announced it has started construction to expand its broadband network to 450 additional homes and businesses in Silverdale, Washington.

i3 Broadband, a midwest fiber provider owned by Wren House Infrastructure, announced it is continuing to expand in O'Fallon, Missouri. The company said this week its services are now available to an additional 608 homes.

Surf Internet said this week it has met a "major milestone" of 100,000 fiber passings in the Great Lakes region of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. The company is aiming for nearly 400,000 passings by 2028. In a press release, Surf said its expansion has been accelerated "through the utilization of grant money to extend service into difficult-to-reach areas, investment and partnership of private equity firms Post Road Group and Bain Capital, as well as recent financing of $100 million from DigitalBridge Credit."

Metronet announced that Fayetteville, North Carolina, is one of its "certified gigabit cities," with the majority of households and businesses throughout the city able to access its $70 million fiber network. Metronet, which is funded by Oak Hill Capital and KKR, said it has installed more than 170 miles of fiber throughout the city since it began construction in January 2021. Fayetteville has over 80,000 households, according to census data.

Vexus Fiber announced that it will build out a privately funded fiber network in Borger, Texas. Construction is planned for early 2024 and expected to take a year to complete, with some neighborhoods projected to get service by next summer. The network will reach nearly 10,000 residences and businesses once complete, and will offer symmetrical, gigabit speeds. Vexus Fiber, which is funded by Oak Hill Capital, merged with Metronet in 2022, but the ISPs operate under their individual brands.

GoNetspeed has completed construction in Kennebunk, Maine, delivering fiber broadband access to more than 2,000 homes and businesses. GoNetspeed, which has backing from Oak Hill Capital, invested $2 million in the network.

FastBridge Fiber will start construction on its fiber network in Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, in "the coming weeks." Customer installations are expected to begin in Spring 2024, according to a press release. FastBridge Fiber, which launched in June 2022 to build out fiber in parts of Pennsylvania, has private equity funding through Guggenheim Investments.

Ezee Fiber, a Houston-based fiber provider, recently announced plans to invest $200 million to expand its network in Fort Bend County, Texas. In a press release, the company said it is "targeting to reach an additional 125,000 Fort Bend County homes in 2024" and is "on track" to connect another 14,000 homes in the county before the end of this year. Ezee Fiber was formed in 2021 by I Squared Capital as a "digital infrastructure platform to invest in fiber networks in growing and underserved U.S. markets." Ezee Fiber has since acquired Houston fiber provider ICTX WaveMedia.

Last week, Conexon Connect announced it will partner with Oconee EMC to deliver fiber broadband to residents of rural Wilkinson County, Georgia. The network – to be dubbed The Connect, powered by Oconee EMC – is expected to take one-to-two years to complete and will deliver service to over 3,000 Oconee EMC members. Conexon works with rural electric cooperatives to build out fiber broadband networks to their members and on certain projects, as with Oconee EMC, acts as the co-op's ISP through its service provider arm, Conexon Connect.

Kinetic last week announced a public-private partnership to expand fiber broadband to 7,400 additional households in Colquitt County, Georgia. Kinetic is already available for roughly 9,700 homes and businesses in the region, and the new construction will expand its reach to 17,000, said the company. The project is being funded with $21.4 million from the state's American Rescue Plan funds, plus $11.1 million from Kinetic. In a press release, Kinetic said it is collaborating with Colquitt Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) on the buildout.

TDS has completed construction of its fiber-to-the-home network in Santa Clara, Utah. The network will now deliver service to 2,800 homes and businesses. The Santa Clara project was first announced in May 2022, and TDS launched initial services for some customers last November.