Kentucky Invests $203 Million in Building Broadband to More Than 34,000 Households and Businesses

As part of his Better Kentucky Plan, Gov Andy Beshear (D-KY) announced a historic investment of over $203 million to expand reliable and affordable high-speed internet to more than 34,000 Kentucky families and businesses. The state’s Better Internet program is providing more than $89.1 million in 46 grant awards to 12 internet service providers and local governments across 35 Kentucky counties. Grant recipients have pledged funds to match the state’s contributions, bringing the total investment for this round of broadband expansion awards to over $203 million. The awards were made using a competitive process managed by the Finance and Administration Cabinet, which issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in August 2021. An evaluation team comprised of state government employees spent six months evaluating and scoring the nearly 100 proposals received in response to the RFP. The 12 successful applicants, representing 46 projects, were selected based on their demonstrated ability to meet certain conditions required to receive this funding. Charter Communications received the most funding for its 18 grant awards, totaling over $49 million with an overall project investment of $118,808,035 including the required matching funds.