Broadband grant will officially close the digital divide in Baldwin Co.
Summary
With the help of a grant from the governor’s office, Baldwin County officials announced plans this week to connect all residents to high-speed internet. “Every resident in the unincorporated area, and the city limits of Milledgeville, too everybody in Baldwin […]
With the help of a grant from the governor’s office, Baldwin County officials announced plans this week to connect all residents to high-speed internet.
“Every resident in the unincorporated area, and the city limits of Milledgeville, too everybody in Baldwin County will have access to broadband to high-speed internet service,” Baldwin County Manager Carlos Tobar said during Tuesday’s commission meeting. “The county is going to receive $917,916.50.”
Hours before the meeting, Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled a list of 49 projects across 70 counties that will receive grant money to connect unserved homes, businesses and communities.
“I am very proud that Georgia is once-again leading the nation in developing collaborative, innovative, and fiscally conservative ways to leverage government funding to positively impact and serve as many Georgians as possible,” Kemp said.
The total allocation of more than $408 million comes from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds given to the state.
According to the governor’s office, the rules on funding continue to evolve, “there is potential opportunity to repurpose or leverage other federal funds to address areas that may not have been addressed with these awards.”
Tobar believes that Baldwin County’s status as a “Broadband Ready Community” and their pledge to contribute matching funds to the projects helped push their application over the top.
| State grant | $917,916.50 |
| Windstream | $766,134.00 |
| Baldwin County | $151,782.50 |
| TOTAL | $1,835,833.00 |
For several years, access to broadband services in rural areas has been a significant topic of concern. It gained even more traction during the COVID-19 pandemic when access to a reliable internet connection was necessary for work and school.
Tri-County EMC has been working to install more than 1600-miles of Fiber Optic Cable to provide broadband to customers. They’re set to finish construction in March 2023.
Washington EMC’s plans will provide access to residents in the Southeastern portion of Baldwin County, Windstream will handle connections in the city of Milledgeville and Spectrum will link their service to cover a section of Southwest Baldwin.
“We had lots of meetings, and GIS Coordinator Cat Cronlund did a lot of work to put these maps together to ensure there was no duplication (competition) with any of the other service providers,” Tobar said in an email to Lake Country Today.
There are no official dates for completing all of the different projects, but county leaders were very pleased.
“I think this is an excellent achievement,” said Henry Craig, Baldwin County Commission Chairman. “That everybody in our community will have the opportunity to get access to fast broadband.”