Levy County awarded more than $1 million for broadband internet expansion

Oct 26, 2023

DeSantis

MILTON — Broadband internet expansion is coming to a variety of cities in Levy County.

This comes following a recent press conference held by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Feb. 2 in Milton, in which DeSantis announced that through the Broadband Opportunity Grant Program, over $144 million will be awarded to 58 projects in 41 Florida counties for broadband internet expansion.

According to a news release from the Governor's Press Office, this is the first set of awards by the program to increase access to broadband internet for Florida's underserved communities. This expansion will effect roughly 160,000 unserved residential, educational, business and community locations.

"Broadband internet access creates jobs and enhances educational opportunities for Floridians," DeSantis said. "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 in Levy County will be awarded through the program:

City of Williston, Town of Bronson; Morriston, Raleigh, Williston Highlands, Rosewood, and Sumner ($1,259,236) – to add 48.1 miles of FTTP via ethernet passive optical network to connect 405 unserved or underserved homes and businesses in Levy County with a standard starting speed of up to 300 MBPS download and 10 MBPS upload.

Additionally, broadband projects in cities and towns surrounding Levy County will also be awarded through the program, as well. They are:

Town of Bell ($4,956,100) – to employ fixed wireless technology to provide high-speed internet service to 1,350 unserved premises in Gilchrist County.

Town of Cross City ($2,020,902) – to add 58.8 miles of fiber optic cable to provide FTTH services to 2,612 unserved and underserved locations within Dixie County with minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1 GBPS.

Town of Cross City ($5,000,000) – to deploy fiber-optic cable and infrastructure to provide fiber-to-the-home services to 1,067 unserved locations within Dixie County at minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 MBPS.

Towns of Bell, Cross City and Horseshoe Beach ($3,506,234) – to complete the first of three phases designed to bring FTTH services to over 11,000 of its metered customers in Gilchrist and Dixie Counties at speeds up to 2 gigabits per second (GB).

City of Trenton ($2,666,244) – to provide FTTH services to 1,965 premises with symmetrical 1GB speeds to residents in Gilchrist County.

According to the news release, the Broadband Opportunity Program is administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and funds the installation and deployment of broadband internet infrastructure in unserved Florida Communities. Furthermore, it provides valuable access to telehealth, economic, educational and workforce development opportunities to offer a brighter future for all Floridians.

"Broadband internet service is essential for workforce development, education and healthcare," Ben Melnick, Department of Economic Opportunity Deputy secretary, said. "Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida has taken monumental steps to bring reliable, high-speed internet to all Floridians. There is no doubt that the projects awarded today will shape the future of broadband in Florida, and we look forward to supporting the Governor's vision for a connected economy."

DeSantis

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