Franklin County to Receive $8.7 Million Broadband Grant Funding

Franklin County is among 70 Georgia counties that will receive millions in grant money for broadband expansion.

This week, Governor Brian Kemp announced the distribution of $408-million Awards to provide broadband access.

“Franklin County partnered with local service provider TruVista to apply for grant funding to increase broadband access throughout Franklin County. We are excited to be able to announce that we were awarded $8.7 million dollars in grant funding from the Governor’s office to help serve an additional 2,812 households throughout the County with broadband access,” Franklin County Commission Chair Jason Macomson said Wednesday night. “It has been a goal of ours over the past few years to improve broadband access in underserved areas throughout the county, and securing these funds from the Governor is an important step toward making better internet access for more citizens a reality. We are all excited and we appreciate our county manager Mr. Turner’s efforts to secure this funding for Franklin County.”

The need for broadband in rural counties became strikingly clear during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 when many students in rural areas like Franklin County who had to study at home had no access to the Internet.

Many of those students across Georgia either got hard copy homework or had to go to local hot spots or the county library to get Internet access.

Kemp said the grant monies will provide those areas in Georgia with the funding they need to expand their broadband infrastructure.

“These 49 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant projects represent an investment of more than $738 million in Georgia when matching funds are contributed. 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,” said Governor Brian P. Kemp.

Kemp said the money is coming from federal Coronavirus Relief Funds and applications were reviewed and selected a designated committee.

“I want to thank all of the members on the Broadband Infrastructure Committee as well as the grants team at the Office of Planning and Budget, and the broadband and special projects team at the Georgia Technology Authority for working together to score applications and recommend projects that reflect the greatest needs and interests of hardworking Georgians. We look forward to the positive impact these projects will have once completed. I ran on a promise to bring opportunity to rural Georgians. If you look at the map of Georgians who will now have access to rural broadband, you will see a promise kept.”

Kemp credited help from the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia with helping his office and the Broadband Committee determined the recipients and said he is fulfilling a campaign promise to expand broadband in rural parts of Georgia.

The announcement represents the initial phase of the rollout. The state is now in a due diligence posture, collecting tangible information and working with grantees to maximize our ability to serve the most Georgians in the highest-need areas. As the due diligence phase wraps up based on final ARPA guidance from the United States Treasury and project awards are finalized, there is a potential opportunity to repurpose or leverage other federal funds to address areas that may not have been addressed with these awards.

Based on data from the Georgia Broadband Availability Map, 482,374 locations in Georgia are currently unserved as of July 2021. The projects targeted with these awards could serve 183,615 locations – representing both homes and businesses – with faster and more reliable broadband. 132,050 of these locations are currently unserved based on state data.

In addition to this investment in broadband expansion in Georgia, the FCC’s RDOF program has awarded $326 million in funding that will also bring service to almost 180,000 unserved locations over the next several years. Due to proximity and connection to the Broadband Infrastructure Committee awards, many of those project timelines are expected to accelerate.

Awards

In total, Governor Kemp today announced 49 projects. Many represent public-private sector partnerships. In total, most recipients were local governments and non-profit organizations, and 14 service providers are represented running the gamut from large companies, EMCs, and local Georgia-based telecommunications companies. A full list is available below:

Grantee, Award Amount, Proposed Number to Serve:

Altamaha EMC: $5,973,474.00; 2,171
Baldwin County: $917,916.50; 751
Berrien County: $15,253,250.00; 4,737
Brooks County: $13,848,183.00; 3,749
Central Georgia EMC: $25,042,591.14; 19,996
Chattooga County: $3,040,732.00; 3,392
Colquitt County: $22,578,814.00; 7,448
Cook County: $10,919,655.00; 3,723
Development Authority of Dawson County: $1,332,621.00; 563
Development Authority of Lumpkin County: $3,779,902.00; 6,403
Diverse Power Incorporated: $25,000,000.00; 4,769
Early County: $11,394,739.00; 2,683
Elberton: $1,071,298.00; 836
Fannin County Development Authority: $3,013,576.00; 996
Flint EMC: $25,048,343.81; 10,659
Franklin County Board of Commissioners: $8,714,856.00; 2,812
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Brantley Telephone Company (Charlton): $665,500.00; 513
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Elijay Telephone Company (Cherokee): $773,688.00; 385
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Chickamauga Telephone Company: $489,756.01; 123
Georgia Telecommunications Association -Hargray (Camden): $593,213.00; 1,289
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Hargray (Chatham): $206,774.00; 504
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Hargray (Tattnall): $216,916.00; 148
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Plant Telephone Company: $2,229,000.00; 2,170
Georgia Telecommunications Association – Trenton Telephone Company (Dade): $6,500,000.00; 943
Habersham County: $5,784,859.00; 3,199
Jenkins County: $11,907,225.00; 1,875
Joint Development Authority of Gilmer and Pickens County: $21,418,727.00; 4,259
Lee County Board of Commissioners: $12,541,241.00; 4,234
Lowndes County: $22,514,336.00; 18,218
McDuffie County: $3,817,531.00; 2,405
Ocmulgee EMC: $19,200,341.41; 9,000
One Sumter Economic Development Foundation, Inc.: $25,387,600.00; 5,726
Southern Rivers Energy: $15,682,160.77; 10,674
Spectrum Southeast Chattahoochee: $248,027.00; 446
Spectrum Southeast Clarke: $1,094,340.00; 574
Spectrum Southeast Green: $4,931,326.00; 1,583
Spectrum Southeast Hall: $689,201.00; 831
Spectrum Southeast Newton: $998,651.00; 1,729
Spectrum Southeast Polk: $4,236,574.00; 2,272
Stephens County: $2,807,804.00; 1,393
Stewart County Commission: $6,662,285.00; 2,729
Terrell County: $9,641,770.00; 2,270
Thomas County Board of Commissioners: $6,840,302.00; 2,098
Twiggs County: $4,660,846.00; 2,034
Union County: $11,162,231.00; 8,256
Upson County Board of Commissioners: $4,430,000.00; 2,124
Walker County: $6,253,152.00; 3,339
Walton County: $3,159,215.00; 4,084
Washington EMC: $13,227,635.38: 6,500

 

The preliminary State Fiscal Recovery Fund awards announced today are shown in red. Rural Digital Opportunity Fund award areas are shown in green. These two programs have been overlayed on Georgia’s Broadband Availability Map which depicts served census blocks in gold, unserved census blocks in light yellow, and areas with no locations in gray.