Comporium/York Electric Share Broadband Grant from Innovative South Carolina Program

Rural broadband provider Comporium said yesterday that it gave York Electric Cooperative (YEC) a check for nearly $1.1 million, which represents a portion of a grant that Comporium was awarded by the South Carolina Broadband Office. The money came through an innovative program offered by the state for a project on which Comporium and York Electric partnered. The program, known as the Accelerated Deployment Grant Program, reimburses network operators for some of the costs of buildouts in previously unserved areas that were constructed and completed without any public funding between March 15, 2021 – June 30, 2022. The use of the word “accelerated” in the program name suggests that the goal of the program is to enable providers to complete projects or perhaps take on new projects more quickly. The project included areas where YEC provides electric service that are outside Comporium’s local telecom service footprint. Comporium and YEC planned the fiber buildout together.