Alachua County to Receive $10M in Broadband Grants, Awards to Archer, Micanopy, Newberry and Gainesville

MILTON, Fla. ‒ On Feb. 2, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the first set of awards through the Broadband Opportunity Grant Program to expand access to broadband internet for Florida’s underserved communities. More than $144 million was awarded for 58 projects in 41 Florida counties for broadband internet expansion that will impact nearly 160,000 unserved residential, educational, business, and community locations.

Administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO), the Broadband Opportunity Program funds the installation and deployment of broadband internet infrastructure in unserved Florida communities, providing valuable access to telehealth, economic, educational, and workforce development opportunities to offer a brighter future for all Floridians.

“Broadband internet access creates jobs and enhances educational opportunities for Floridians,” said DeSantis. “I look forward to continued investments through this program to ensure Florida families have access to important resources no matter where they live.”

The following projects will be awarded through the Broadband Opportunity Program:

• City of Archer; Town of Micanopy ($4,672,393) – to add 132 miles of fiber optic cable to their existing network to provide fiber broadband (FTTH) services to 1,701 unserved locations within Alachua County with minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 MBPS.
• City of Gainesville ($1,438,610) - to add 27 miles of fiber optic cable to their existing network to provide FTTH services to 193 unserved locations within Alachua County with minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 MBPS.
• Cities of Archer and Newberry ($4,822,632) - to add 78 miles of fiber optic cable to their existing network to provide FTTH services to 795 unserved locations within Alachua County with minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 MBPS.

“Broadband internet service is essential for workforce development, education, and healthcare” said Department of Economic Opportunity Deputy Secretary Ben Melnick. “…Florida has taken monumental steps to bring reliable, high-speed internet to all Floridians,” he said. “There is no doubt that the projects awarded today will shape the future of broadband in Florida…”

For additional information about the Office of Broadband, visit www.FloridaJobs.org/Broadband.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com