Agenda Item Name:
title
Broadband Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Capital Project Grant support letters
body
Presenter:
Tommy Crosby, 352-337-6205
Description:
Letters of Support for grant applicants competing for DEO - Office of Broadband Capital Project grants that align with Alachua County’s rural broadband deployment goals and parameters
body
Recommended Action:
recommended action
Approve letters of supports and authorize Chair to sign and be included in application packages
body
Prior Board Motions:
recommended action
Begin development of the Broadband deployment plan, and prepare United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ReConnect 4 application for Phase 1
body
Fiscal Consideration:
fiscal consideration
The grant applicants will use grant awards and corporate funds for deployment. No direct financial impact to County
body
Strategic Guide:
strategic guide
Infrastructure
body
Background:
The Board has passed several motions to support and/or deploy rural broadband county-wide. The Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) and Local Technology Planning Team have continued align with DEO - Office of Broadband which has become the main funding mechanism for Federal pass-through grants.
While the current applicants will impact our ReConnect4 grant with the USDA, if awarded, staff will work with USDA to make necessary modifications. Also, the Capital Project awards to other entities will allow us to stay out of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) business for now, and not tap into our $15 million allocation.
AT&T Summary -
As a brief overview, our project will deliver AT&T’s ultra-fast, reliable, 100% fiber-optic network capable of symmetrical speeds up to 5 Gbps and scalable to 10 Gbps to approximately 6,640 customer locations in south Alachua County. AT&T will utilize both subsidy funds upon award and our own funds to deliver AT&T Fiber to both unserved and underserved areas in Archer, Micanopy and Hawthorne and their surrounding areas, in addition to upgrading our existing copper customers in some of these areas to fiber as well at our own cost.
We are excited for the opportunity to deliver reliable, fiber-to-the-footprint service to these areas and target this project to be substantially complete by December 31st, 2026, as required by Capital Project Fund guidelines. As mentioned earlier, we would look for the County’s support in this partnership as it relates to permitting, etc. to ensure timely completion hopefully ahead of the above target date.
IBT Summary
In High Springs, IBT’s application will bring high speed internet service to about 1,300 unserved and extremely unserved households and businesses in our community. Their project involves roughly 80 route miles of underground fiber, building a robust and resilient Fiber-To-The-Home network, in areas which currently only have satellite and DSL options available at speeds < 25/3 Mbps.
In Hawthorne, IBT’s application will bring high speed internet service to about 1,500 unserved and extremely unserved households and businesses in our community. Their project involves roughly 100 route miles of underground fiber, building a robust and resilient Fiber-To-The-Home network, in areas which currently only have satellite and DSL options available at speeds < 25/3 Mbps. This project targets all of the unserved and extremely unserved households and businesses within the largest Qualified Opportunity Zone Census Tract in our county.
Additionally, IBT has affordability programs that make their services cost-effective for low-income families here in Alachua County. When IBT’s low-cost program is combined with the Affordable Connectivity Program and Lifeline, eligible residents can receive 100/100 Mbps symmetrical service for under $20 per month.