9,000 houses, 535 businesses: Huge Louisiana high-speed internet project gets underway

Louisiana's effort to expand broadband access in rural areas advanced with the groundbreaking of the state's biggest high-speed internet project yet. The project will bring cable internet to 9,140 households and 535 small businesses in Avoyelles Parish—the largest investment to date under the state's Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities program, dubbed GUMBO. Set for completion in the summer 2024, the Avoyelles project will cost just over $20 million. Federal Treasury Department grants will fund about $9.7 million of that cost, while the rest will be covered by Swyft Telecom, the cable internet provider that is completing the work, said Veneeth Iyengar, executive director for the state's broadband growth effort.