At a press conference in Milton this morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the first set of awards through the Broadband Opportunity Grant Program to expand access to broadband internet for Florida’s underserved communities. More than $144 million was awarded for 58 projects in 41 Florida counties for broadband internet expansion that will impact nearly 160,000 unserved residential, educational, business, and community locations.
“I am proud to be in Santa Rosa County to announce the first awards through Florida’s Broadband Opportunity Program,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Broadband internet access creates jobs and enhances educational opportunities for Floridians. I look forward to continued investments through this program to ensure Florida families have access to important resources no matter where they live.”
Here are the local grants:
Town of Jay; Fidelis, Berrydale, Cobbtown, and Unincorporated Santa Rosa County, ($2,363,937) — to deploy 103.7 miles of new fiber optic cable and provide FTTH services to 791 unserved locations within Santa Rosa County with download speeds of 300 MBPS and upload speeds of 10 MBPS.
Escambia County ($802,489) — to deploy 24.8 miles on new fiber optic cable and provide FTTH services to 206 unserved locations within Escambia County with minimum download speeds of 300 MBPS and upload speeds of 10 MBPS.