Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has announced that $5 million in grant funding has been awarded to eight internet service providers for expanding access to high-speed broadband services in rural communities.
The award will be combined with an additional $6.6 million in matching funds for projects across ten rural counties in Kansas. The recipients include SKT Twin Valley in Butler and Cowley counties, IdeaTek in Greenwood County and Haviland Broadband in Comanche County. Funds will also go to providers in Nemaha, Scott, Montgomery, Douglas, Stevens and Riley counties.
The funding is from the Broadband Acceleration Grant, which was started in 2020. It’s a ten-year, $85 million program to bring essential internet access to communities across the state. It’s administered by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development and funded through the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Eisenhower Legacy Transportation program.
This latest round of grants brings the program’s total investment for broadband infrastructure to over $31.5 million.
Another $28.5 million in grants were awarded to 12 entities through the Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program. The LINC program provides strategic funding for crucial aspects of broadband connectivity to reduce the cost of internet service, increase availability, and improve performance.
The providers receiving LINC funding include IdeaTek in Harvey County and KanOkla Networks in Harper County.
There is also a $5 million grant to go toward an Internet Exchange Point for Wichita State University.
