Those living in rural areas of Limestone County without access to fiber internet have certainly heard announcements of large amounts of grant money from the state and federal level being earmarked for expanding high speed fiber internet service. How many rural residents of Limestone County gained access to broadband in 2022? Turns out, the answer to that question is something no one has been able to answer.

In March 2022, Governor Kay Ivey announced that she had designated $276 million of Alabama’s American Rescue Plan Money for broadband expansion. She had the money transferred to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).

“Broadband is vital infrastructure that helps bring more jobs, improves educational and health care opportunities and bolsters our economy,” Governor Ivey said. “These funds represent an opportunity to fill this need for broadband service in more areas of our state, particularly rural communities. I am pleased to complete this step in the funding process, and I have full confidence that ADECA will manage these funds wisely.”

The News Courier reached out to ADECA to find out how many homes in Limestone County gained broadband over the past year and what providers are working in Limestone County with money granted from ADECA.

“ADECA has not awarded any Alabama Broadband Accessibility Fund grants to Limestone County. However, Charter/Spectrum has been awarded funding through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to serve portions of Limestone County. That program is administered by the Federal Communication Commission; therefore, we have no additional information regarding the number of households that will be served through the project or when the project may be complete. We encourage you to reach out to Charter for more information about the project,” ADECA Communications and Public Relations Coordinator Josh Carples said.

The News Courier then reached out to Charter and the FCC about their efforts. We asked Charter about their area of focus and to what areas they have already expanded service. We also asked for a number of households that gained connectivity in 2022 as well as future goals going forward.

Charter said, “We are currently waiting for the State to announce their awards for the latest round of grants offered. We have applied for $1.76 million in ADECA grant funds to bring broadband service to an additional 887 homes and small businesses in Limestone County.”

“Our Rural Digital Opportunity Fund grant project in Limestone County will begin this summer with the first activations occurring late fall. The fiber-optic network buildout will ultimately bring service to more than 1,600 homes and small businesses in Limestone County. The expansion includes Spectrum product offerings with access to gigabit service with no data caps, no modem fees, no annual contracts, and high-quality service provided by U.S.-based employees.”

The Deputy Director of the FCC office of Media relations Anne Veigle provided a link to a spreadsheet of companies authorized for funding, by state and by county, from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund. It shows that Charter Fiberlink – Alabama, LLC bid and was awarded $51,222,291.30 over the next 10 years. Charter Fiberlink was also awarded bids in Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Oregon, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington totaling over $444 million.

Veigle also said, “The RDOF program is a 10-year support program with buildout over a six-year period (with additional buildout in year seven and eight if there turns out to be more actual locations than the estimated locations used as a baseline for RDOF), so those authorized in 2022 like Charter Fiberlink AL have until 2028 to complete their buildout to the estimated locations, with the potential for buildout to continue into 2029 and 2030. Authorized support recipients report their service locations to the Universal Service Administrative Company, which administers universal service programs for the FCC, and that company will test their reporting to confirm.”

The News Courier then reached out to U.S. Representative Dale Strong to ask about oversight of the money granted to Charter but had not heard back by press time

The News Courier also reached out to State Senator Arthur Orr, State Representative Andy Witt, and State Representative Ben Harrison in hopes of finding out why Limestone did not receive grant money from ADECA for broadband expansion. They did not respond.

How many rural Limestone County residents have gained access in the past year? That seems to be the $51,000,000 question.