Gov. Landry has awarded $1.355 billion to bolster broadband connectivity throughout the state.
“Louisiana is driving broadband for the rest of the country and delivering concrete, tangible results,” said Gov. Landry. “This historic investment in our state’s broadband infrastructure will transform communities across Louisiana, providing the connectivity our residents need to thrive in the modern economy. I want to thank the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and
Connectivity for their leadership in ensuring all Louisianians benefit from this great investment.”
“75% of those dollars are going to companies that are based in Louisiana that have had a great track record in building in their communities,” says Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of ConnectLA.
The money is part of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program by way of the state’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) 2.0 program.
The money will allow the state to expand fiber optic connectivity to approximately 140,000 locations across the state.
It will support 100,000 households, 35,000 small businesses and 4,000 community anchor institutions such as public safety locations, schools and hospitals.
Iyengar says two local companies are part of a group that will be getting $450 million in funding.
“The largest is a consortium between three companies — REV, Swyft Fiber and T-Mobile.”
Swyft Fiber and REV are both headquartered in Louisiana and specialize in providing internet connectivity to rural communities.
“We thank Gov. Landry and the Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity for their support in extending fiber connectivity to Louisiana communities and continuing to invest in our Louisiana workforce,” said Jason Hunt, Swyft Fiber co-founder and CEO. “We are deeply grateful for the investment as it is strongly aligned with our mission of providing high-speed internet to areas historically lacking investment in high-quality connectivity.”
“For 90 years, REV has been dedicated to connecting communities across Louisiana,” said Josh Descant, CEO of REV. “We’re excited to bring our expertise and commitment to this partnership with the State of Louisiana — delivering customers reliable, locally-serviced internet.”
Together, the three companies comprise the Louisiana Local Fiber Consortium.
Iyengar says most of the lines that the consortium will be building will be underground.
“The challenge that we have with hurricane resilience, telecommunications resilience, storm resilience is going to largely be addressed because this infrastructure is going to be built underground,” Iyengar points out.
The funding will also mean more jobs for Louisiana.
“We think it’s going to create 8,000-10,000 new jobs just in the next two to three years,” Iyengar says, “two to three-billion dollars in incremental GDP growth for the State of Louisiana.”
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