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The Divide: Closing the broadband gap in AppalachiaThe Divide: Closing the broadband gap in Appalachia

This episode features Donna Gambrell, CEO of Appalachian Community Capital, and Brian Vo, chief investment officer at Connect Humanity, on the need for local investment in Appalachian broadband infrastructure.

Nicole Ferraro

September 5, 2023

At a Glance

  • Why and how the organizations are collaborating to raise capital (03:54)
  • Details on the digital divide in Appalachia (10:40)
  • The potential and pitfalls of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program for Appalachia (12:40)

This episode features Donna Gambrell, president and CEO of Appalachian Community Capital (ACC), and Brian Vo, chief investment officer at Connect Humanity. We discuss the state of the digital divide throughout Appalachia, one of the least-connected regions in the US, and a recent partnership between ACC and Connect Humanity to help bring about more local investment in broadband infrastructure.

We also discuss the federal government's $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) fund, how far it will go toward solving the problem and why BEAD alone won't close Appalachia's digital divide.

Click the caption button on the video player for a lightly edited transcript.

Read more about:

The Divide

About the Author(s)

Nicole Ferraro

Editor, Light Reading, Light Reading

Nicole covers the broadband industry and broadband policy. Some* call her the broadband broad (*no one). Nicole hosts The Divide – LR's podcast on the digital divide – and she tracks new broadband builds in The Buildout column.

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