Tennessee

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today has approved and recommended for award applications from Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico allowing them to request access to more than $68 million to implement their Digital Equity Plans. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The awards received are:

Tennessee Gov Bill Lee (R-TN) and Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter approved $26.6 million in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), which will assist communities with infrastructure improvements and health and safety initiatives. “Forty new communities are increasing the quality of life for Tennesseans through these crucial infrastructure grants, and I look forward to seeing the benefit and economic growth this funding brings to their regions.” said Gov Lee.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) Commissioner Stuart C. McWhorter announced that the state will award $101.6 million in funding as part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants. These investments will provide last-mile broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties.

More than a million residents in the southeastern U.S. started the week without fixed broadband and plenty more without cell phone service after Hurricane Helene brought never-before-seen levels of flooding to the valleys of Appalachia. Some operators on the extent of the damage and anticipated timelines for recovery:

The effects of Hurricane Helene are still impacting the southeastern U.S., with widespread cell service outages in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, days after the Category 4 storm made landfall in Florida's Big Bend region.

Tennessee’s digital skills policies are making the state a leader as full-blown implementation of the federal Digital Equity Act begins.

Brightspeed has been awarded more than $213 million in local, state, and federal grants to deploy fiber broadband networks in 12 states.

United Communications snagged a cool $7.98 million through Tennessee's Middle Mile Buildout program. The local provider will use that money to lay down 267 miles of fiber to rural communities across 10 counties.

Brightspeed launched a high-speed internet service that it hopes to reach 160,000 homes and small businesses in Johnson City, Elizabethton, Kingsport, and other surrounding communities in Tennessee. Brightspeed, which is headquartered in Charlotte (NC), is currently the nation’s fourth-largest fiber broadband builder. The company is looking to fill a need in a market where one in 10 Tennessee residents do not have access to high-speed internet. Brightspeed was one of the recipients of $162.7 million in state broadband grants that were announced by Gov.

Broadband provider United Communications and majority owner Middle Tennessee Electric (MTE) are partnering to expand the scope of a major fiber buildout that they undertook in 2023. They are expanding a fiber build in Williamson County, Tennessee. Construction in that county was initially designed to reach 2,800 addresses but the new target is 8,000 locations. Funding for the initial stage of the Williamson County project came through Project UNITE, an initiative consisting of United, MTE and Duck River Electric Membership Corporation.