How Georgia is Getting Broadband to the Most Unserved of its Unserved Areas

Georgia has found a way to get bids for, and ultimately service to, its most unserved areas. Georgia’s Deputy State Chief Information Officer and Executive Director of the Georgia Broadband Program, Jessica Simmons, said the state's Capital Projects Fund (CPF) program, funded by the federal American Rescue Plan Act,  enabled its success. “We didn’t put every county out for bid; we just targeted the most unserved [and] made an award in all areas that were eligible following a challenge process." The majority of awarded funding will go toward fiber broadband deployments, with a few providers using hybrid fiber coax and a few locations receiving fixed wireless service. Georiga had obligated nearly all the funding it received for broadband deployments through the US State and Local Fiscal Recovery Program and the CPF—about $660 million in total—with broadband providers also contributing to project costs, yielding a total budget of about a billion dollars. The remaining $5 million of the state's CPF funds will procure hotspots for Georiga's library system.