Tennessee secures $185 million for high-speed internet infrastructure
New funding comes from the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund and will allow 50,000 households and businesses to have access to high-speed internet.
Just a day after we published this article about a new program to help Tennessee communities prepare for broadband, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that it has approved Tennessee to receive $185 million for high-speed internet infrastructure, which the state estimates will connect an estimated 50,000 households and businesses to high-speed internet access.
According to the news release announcing the approval, the Volunteer State’s award will fund two high-speed internet infrastructure programs to provide reliable internet access in areas of the state lacking adequate service.
- Tennessee’s “Last Mile Connection Program” is a competitive grant initiative designed to provide service to remote areas of the state where internet infrastructure projects would not be feasible without assistance.
- Tennessee’s “Middle Mile Buildout Program” is also a competitive grant program designed to deploy middle-mile infrastructure in rural areas of the state to improve and expand last-mile connections.
The program is designed to provide internet service with speeds of 100/100 Mbps symmetrical to households and businesses upon project completion. Each of the internet service providers funded by the program will participate in the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program.
The plan submitted to Treasury and approved this week represents 86 percent of the state’s total allocation under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund. Tennessee submitted plans for the remainder of its Capital Project Funds, and these applications are currently under review by Treasury.
The overall program is administered by the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
In addition to Tennessee, Treasury also approved the plans of Arizona and Wyoming.
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