Comcast, Verizon and Mediacom snag $44.9 million to help deliver universal broadband in Delaware

Comcast won a grant of more than $30 million to help expand high-speed internet service to underserved homes and businesses in Delaware, as part of a state initiative to deliver universal broadband access. Verizon and Mediacom each also scored hefty awards. All told, the state awarded $56 million in Broadband Infrastructure Grants. The money was distributed as part of a $110 million program announced in September 2021 aimed at closing existing broadband gaps in the state. Comcast came away with $33.1 million, while Verizon snagged $11.8 million and Mediacom won $11.1 million. Using the money, the trio will extend their wireline infrastructure in Delaware over the next 36 months to cover more than 11,000 unserved locations. The grants will cover up to 75 percent of construction costs, with the operators contributing the remaining 25 percent. In a strategic broadband plan released in May 2021, the state previously identified 11,600 locations in contiguous areas which were unserved with broadband meeting the Federal Communications Commission’s minimum speed standard of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. The report noted there were a few hundred more unserved addresses sprinkled within mostly served areas, with these primarily consisting of locations where “the potential return on investment is not high enough to merit the cost to pick up those customers.” It concluded that encouraging incumbent providers to edge out their networks would be the most efficient way to connect a majority of unserved locations, finding 87 percent could be reached with a half-mile extension of existing infrastructure.