‘Middle-mile’ broadband provides ‘fundamental service’ for N. Alabama communities

MONTGOMERY – Residents and businesses in eight North Alabama counties will soon be able to enter the information age, thanks to the Alabama Fiber Network and the Alabama Anchor Institution/Middle-Mile Program.

The counties are among 24 statewide that will share nearly $53.5 million to continue the expansion of high-speed internet service in Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey announced today.

The grant awarded to the Alabama Fiber Network, a coalition of electric and generation/transmission cooperatives, will help develop the second phase of the state’s “middle-mile” broadband network deployment. The project will impact 24 Alabama counties.

This latest grant will provide high-speed connectivity to residents and businesses Colbert, DeKalb, Etowah, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison and Marshall counties.

Middle-mile projects are designed to fill the gaps in broadband expansion to make it more cost-effective and less labor intensive for providers to extend broadband services to businesses and households in the state.

“This project will add approximately 1,095 miles of high-speed middle-mile broadband for our communities, and it will connect approximately 120 community anchors, like educational institutions, medical facilities, local government offices and police and fire departments to this service,” Ivey said. “Just as important, it puts us closer in Alabama to ensuring that everyone has access to this fundamental service.”

The project will bring more than 7,500 unserved businesses and residences across the state within five miles of high-speed internet connectivity. Funding for this latest middle-mile project came from an allocation from the state’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) will administer the program through its Alabama Digital Expansion Division. The division was established by Ivey and the state Legislature to focus on broadband expansion in the state.

“This grant phase is another giant step in the long, but attainable process of providing high-speed internet to every corner of the state,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell. “I commend the Alabama Fiber Network for this cooperative effort and their major role in this venture. I appreciate the confidence that Governor Ivey and the Alabama Legislature has shown in ADECA by entrusting us with this life-changing program.”

The Alabama Fiber Network is made up of electric cooperatives Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative, Covington Electric Cooperative, Cullman Electric Cooperative, Joe Wheeler Electric Membership Cooperative, North Alabama Electric Cooperative and Tombigbee Electric Cooperative, as well as the generation/transmission cooperative PowerSouth Energy Cooperative.