Many Floridians who have been using unreliable internet service will soon get an upgrade.
On Friday, July 7, Gov. Ron DeSantis awarded about $247 million through the Broadband Infrastructure Program to connect more than 59,000 unserved and underserved businesses, homes, farms and anchor institutions like hospitals and libraries to high-speed internet.
Infrastructure deployment through 63 strategic projects in 43 Florida counties ensures that Florida residents have reliable and efficient access to workforce, education and health monitoring opportunities for generations to come.
These awards are in addition to the $226 million in Broadband Opportunity Grant funding already awarded to 53 counties to expand broadband internet access to unserved areas across the state. That funding will connect more than 250,000 homes and businesses.
“High-speed broadband internet is important infrastructure for Florida communities and will generate economic development activity and a talented labor force,” said DeSantis. “Florida is proud to make investments in broadband internet infrastructure that will benefit all Floridians and make long-term impacts in communities across the state.”
“Broadband internet infrastructure will change the landscape and quality of life for Florida families and businesses, connecting them to workforce training, jobs, educational resources and telehealth services,” said state Department of Economic Opportunity Secretary J. Alex Kelly.
Some of the projects funded through the Broadband Infrastructure Program will be in St. Augustine and Hastings. In all, 25.8 miles of fiber optic cable will be installed to provide 141 unserved locations within St. Johns and Flagler counties with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. The cost for those projects is about $1.4 million.
For more information about the Broadband Infrastructure Program, go to floridajobs.org/community-planning-and-development/broadband/office-of-broadband.
