The Buildout: Treasury approves $540M for California broadband

California was the latest state to receive approval for American Rescue Plan (ARPA) capital projects funds from the US Treasury Department on Thursday afternoon. The state was approved for $540.2 million to deliver broadband connectivity to an estimated 127,000 homes and businesses. According to a fact sheet, the funding is expected to reach ~16% of California's remaining addresses without access to high-speed Internet. Grants will be distributed through California's Last Mile BroadbandExpansion grant program, which requires network deployments capable of 100/100 Mbit/s.

Pennsylvania, too, received approval for capital projects funds this week. The state was approved for $200 million to connect approximately 44,000 homes and businesses to broadband. According to a fact sheet about Pennsylvania's awards, the grants will be distributed through Pennsylvania's Broadband Infrastructure Program, which funds large-scale regional projects and line extensions. "Eligible large-scale regional projects will provide reliable broadband to broad across the Commonwealth, while eligible line extension projects will extend existing last-mile networks to areas that lack adequate internet service," says the fact sheet. Projects must deliver symmetrical service of at least 100 Mbit/s. These awards are set to connect roughly 15% of Pennsylvania's remaining locations lacking broadband access, said the state. Pennsylvania said in a press release it would accept grant applications between May 10 and July 10 and plans to announce awards before the end of 2023. All projects must be completed by December 31, 2026, and grants require a 25% match.

The state of Florida awarded $22 million through its Broadband Opportunity Program (BOP) to connect 33,200 unserved homes, businesses, schools and community institutions to high-speed Internet. The grants were awarded to three providers, according to Telecompetitor: Conexon Connect ($13.3 million), Suwanee Valley Electric Cooperative ($5 million) and Charter Communications ($4.3 million). All projects will deliver symmetrical speeds of 1 Gbit/s, according to a press release. This is Florida's second round of BOP awards distributed this year, after February's $144 million round of which $27.9 million went to Charter.

Kinetic by Windstream will expand its fiber broadband network in Andrews, Texas, the company said Friday. According to a press release, the new construction will expand Kinetic to an additional 1,700 homes and businesses in Andrews, beyond the current 4,200 customers it currently serves. The build is part of Kinetic's $2 billion, multi-year capital investment strategy to expand fiber across its 18-state footprint.

Indiana awarded $842,865 to six providers through the fifth round of its Indiana Connectivity Program. The grants will support broadband connectivity to 216 addresses (206 homes and 10 businesses). The grant winners include Johnson County REMC ($41,270 to serve nine addresses), Joink, Inc. ($66,507 to serve 14 addresses), Miami-Cass REMC ($244,800 to serve 51 addresses), Mulberry Telecommunications ($137,250 to serve 29 addresses), PSC Fiber ($325,092 to serve 97 addresses) and South Central Indiana REMC ($27,946 to serve seven addresses). Charter will also serve nine addresses but will forego funding, according to the state. All told, the providers will also support the buildouts with $1.4 million in matching funds.

GoNetspeed announced this week that it has completed construction on a $4 million fiber network in Branford, Connecticut. The network is now available to more than 8,900 homes and businesses, said GoNetspeed in a press release. The company also announced it has finished construction on its $1.3 million fiber network in Shortsville and Manchester, New York. The new build will see more than 1,300 locations receive access to GoNetspeed's symmetrical broadband service. GoNetspeed is building out fiber across the Northeast with backing from Oak Hill Capital.

TDS Telecommunications has started construction on a fiber network in Watertown, Wisconsin. In a press release, the company said construction will be done in phases and the network will ultimately reach more than 9,300 homes and businesses with speeds of up to 8 Gbit/s.

Fidium Fiber – the fiber broadband arm of Consolidated Communications – is now available for 16,000 homes and small businesses in the regions of Farmington and Blue Hill Peninsula, Maine, the company said this week. The network was funded with an $18.3 million grant from the NTIA announced last year, as well as a $5.5 million company investment. With this latest launch, more than 164,000 addresses throughout Maine have access to Fidium Fiber service, said the company.

Breezeline recently completed the construction of a 500-mile fiber network in Monongalia County, West Virginia. The company will continue construction to other counties, to ultimately reach more than 40,000 homes and businesses, it said in a press release. Since the last year, Breezeline has invested more than $40 million in network construction and activation and "has tripled its workforce as it has expanded its operations in the region," the company said. Thus far, Breezeline says it has expanded its fiber reach to 25,000 West Virginian homes and businesses and expects to add 17,000 over the next year.

Empire Access, a fiber provider that is expanding across the Northeast with support from Antin Infrastructure Partners, announced that it will bring its fiber network to Canandaigua, New York. The company said in a press release it expects to complete construction by spring 2023. This latest announcement follows recent news that Empire Access is building fiber networks in Cortland, New York, and Carbondale, Pennsylvania.

According to local reports, Gary, Indiana, has selected Kansas-based WANRack to build a fiber network and deliver free public Wi-Fi to six parks. The build will be funded with $4.3 million of the state's $203 million in American Rescue Plan capital projects awards, which were approved last year. Once contracts are finalized, construction will start with a middle mile build, expected to be complete by the end of 2024, writes the NWI Times.

Omni Fiber announced this week it has started construction on a $7 million fiber network in Wilmington, Ohio. Residential installations are expected to start this summer, said the company in a press release, with business services to come later this year. Omni Fiber is one of several fiber providers with backing from Oak Hill Capital.

Last week, the city council in San Antonio, Texas, reportedly approved a contract with AT&T that will see the company expand fiber Internet access to 20,200 households over the course of roughly three years. The network will cost approximately $22.2 million, reports Axios, with AT&T covering $13.3 million and the city contributing $8.9 million.