Kansas has awarded $44.5 million in funding to nine broadband providers in the third and final awards phase of the Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Broadband Infrastructure Program, according to Kansas Commerce. The funding will serve 18,468 locations in 15 counties.
AT&T was awarded $2.2 million and Cox Communication was awarded $6.3 million in this round. But they weren’t the biggest winners.
The largest of the nine projects in the final announcement was $10,764,700 to Nex-Tech for work in Decatur and Saline counties. A close second was Butler Rural Electric Cooperative, which was awarded $9.8 million for projects in four counties.
The smallest approved application was from WANRack in Johnson County. The company will get $400,000 to provide broadband to the county, which now is 100% unserved.
Kansas Broadband Fund
The Kansas broadband program, which is being funded by the $10 billion American Rescue Plan Act, aims to serve sparsely populated areas of the state. In total, the program will provide $83.5 million in support.
That funding will be complemented by $42 million in matching funds for a total investment of $125.5 million. It will provide connectivity to more than 24,500 homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and other public institutions.
The Kansas Office of Broadband Development received 141 applications in the broadband funding program seeking more than $600 million in funding, according to a press release. Twenty-four projects received funding.
The communities targeted by the program have as few as five locations per square mile, which makes them unattractive to providers.
AT&T said it will use its funding to expand fiber to more than 10,000 locations in Segwick county and will contribute toward the cost of the project, which will be $10.4 million. The company plans to offer service at speeds up to 5 Gbps.
A complete list of awards:
- AT&T (Sedgwick County, $2,206,491)
- Butler Rural Electric Cooperative Association (Butler, Cowley, Sedgwick, and Sumner counties, $9,815,894)
- Cox Communications (Jackson, Shawnee and Wabaunsee counties, $6,373,948)
- Cunningham Communications (Mitchell County, $1,192,735)
- GBT Rural (Pawnee and Stafford counties, $6,782,694)
- Iowa Tribe (Doniphan County, $1,424,945)
- Mokan Dial (Miami County, $5,590,145)
- Nex-Tech ($10,764,700 for work in Decatur and Saline counties)
- WANRack (Johnson County) – $400,000
In November, Kansas awarded $15.7 million to seven service providers in the previous funding round. The awards will connect more than 1,900 homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities and other public institutions.
Updated with information for AT&T and Cox.
