KentuckyWired’s fiber buildout delays spark downgrade by Moody’s

Bonds related to KentuckyWired’s plans to build a fiber network in Kentucky via a public-private partnership received a downgrade—from stable to negative—from Moody's Investors Service. “The change in outlook to negative from stable reflects the further delays in project completion and the rising disagreement between the Project Co and the Commonwealth related to the amount of schedule and compensation relief due to the Project Co for certain material supervening events,” Moody’s wrote. “The resolution of these ongoing negotiations over the next few months will be the next key credit event,” the firm added. “The Commonwealth is working diligently with its private sector partners in completing construction of the KentuckyWired project,” KentuckyWired said. “The project is very complex but progress is being made weekly, and the Commonwealth remains fully committed to the statewide scope of this broadband initiative.” KentuckyWired communications director Randy Lutke added that the effort has so far deployed a total of 564 miles of fiber, after working in part to obtain access to roughly 80,000 utility poles owned by a total of 70 different entities—a time-consuming process he said KentuckyWired is close to completing. He added that KentuckyWired has also worked to address the “make-ready” engineering and construction process, which he said is a “necessary process that commonly takes longer than desired.”