Going the last (and middle) mile: Time and money are required to get statewide broadband access

Alabama Senate Majority Leader Clay Scofield (R-AL) says he gets asked by Alabamians about one topic more than most: High-speed internet and when they’ll have access to it. Alabama's goal is that new publicly funded projects have speeds of 100 megabits per second for downloads and 100 megabits per second for uploads. Getting that statewide will cost billions. In late August 2022, officials announced $26.6 million in Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund grants to extend broadband internet access to about 15,000 homes, businesses and entities, including schools, in 10 counties. Since 2018, $64.1 million has been awarded through the fund. Another $25 million is expected in fiscal 2023. Early this year, lawmakers and Gov Kay Ivey (R-AL) agreed to spend $277 million of about $1 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funds on broadband expansion. About $85 million of that will be spent on a statewide “middle mile” project. An entity for that contract could be announced soon. The other $191 million will be used for “last mile” projects. It could be next spring before those funds are distributed.