Kansas communities set for broadband improvements following first round of state grants
March 11, 2021
TOPEKA — Critically needed broadband will soon be available to more than a dozen Kansas communities after the first-round recipients of a state grant program were announced.
The Broadband Acceleration Grant Program, created in fall 2020, aims to increase broadband access across the state through a 10-year, $85 million investment. The program is operated through the office of broadband development in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Transportation’s Eisenhower Legacy transportation program.
The initial round provided $5 million in total grant awards to 14 projects in 18 communities; each recipient company matched the state grant it received.
“It’s our job to give the innovators and entrepreneurs of our state, in each and every Kansas community, what they need, and what they need is a chance,” said Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland. “They need a chance to be able to compete in this interconnected economy, a chance to innovate and a chance to win, and what the lack of broadband infrastructure does is it makes it hard to give them that chance.”
