58 parishes have applied for grants to bring broadband internet to their areas. It’s no secret that large portions of Louisiana are underserved when it comes to Internet access and connection speeds. Avoyelles state Rep. Daryl Deshotel was an architect of the so-called GUMBO Fund grants.
“We got $187-million. What we did, is we took $90-million of it – basically half of it – and set it up for this first round of applications,” said Deshotel.
GUMBO is an acronym for Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities. The program was proposed by Deshotel and others and was passed in 2021. 58 parishes have applied for the money and the first-round candidates will be announced in March.
Deshotel says the GUMBO Fund will get a boost from federal Infrastructure Law money, and there are other ways the available funds could grow, as web access providers are being incented to offer up cash of their own to sweeten the pot. He says, over time, there could be over a Billion dollars for bringing broadband to Louisiana’s most remote areas.
Deshotel says actual work to install broadband infrastructure in the state’s more remote areas can begin as early as May. He says there is some concern about the supply chain and any potential labor shortage due to the pandemic. Deshotel says it is high time that broadband Internet was available to every part of Louisiana.
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