Consolidated Communications was awarded $40 million in funding from the New Hampshire Office of Broadband Initiatives to go toward the cost of broadband buildouts in the state. Matt Conserva,
Broadband Program Manager for the agency, told Telecompetitor that Consolidated was the only company to win funding at this time.
Consolidated won the funding by responding to an RFP (request for proposal), Conserva said.
The company has had considerable success in winning funding in New England to cover some of the costs of buildouts there.
Last month, Consolidated won $17 million from a Maine broadband funding program, and it has been involved in numerous public private partnerships in which one or more local communities share in network buildout costs.
The company’s public private partnerships have included projects in at least three New England states, including Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire.
According to Consolidated, the company has partnered with 23 New Hampshire towns since 2018.
The Latest Win
The new award from the state of New Hampshire was funded with money allocated to the state in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Every state was awarded a pool of money that could be used for a range of infrastructure projects and some states dedicated a consideration portion of their funding to broadband buildouts.
Consolidated will use the funding to build fiber to nearly 25,000 unserved homes throughout New Hampshire, according to a press release.
Additionally, Consolidated will invest its own capital to make service available to 32,000 more homes.
Construction is expected to begin later this year and to be “largely completed” by the end of 2023, Consolidated said.
This morning, the New Hampshire Office of Broadband Initiatives announced a new round of funding in its New Hampshire Broadband Contract program. In a press release, the agency said the round is expected to fund buildouts to 15,000 locations, which are in addition to 30,000 that are expected to be built out in the first funding round.
