Kentucky residents and state and local government offices, universities, and other critical institutions are in danger of losing internet connectivity due to a long running conflict between the state’s middle-mile broadband network and the network’s administrator, according to StateScoop, a local news source.
The middle-mile network is KentuckyWired, a public-private partnership founded in 2013. The 3,200 mile network has a dual role — it provides each county in Kentucky with critical connectivity services and supports private ISPs that offer last-mile service.
A company that operates under two names — Accelecom and the OpenFiber Kentucky Company — has held the contract to manage access to the KentuckyWired network in the state’s 120 counties.
However, Statescoop’s story says that “a series of ongoing serious breaches of contract” — including selling last-mile services on its own — led Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA), to the termination of the contract with Accelecom in January.
The story, which posted on May 6, was written by Keely Quinlan. It says that the situation has led to litigation, some of which is ongoing. The Franklin County Circuit Court ordered KCNA to provide a 30-day notice to Accelecom’s customers of the disconnection.
KCNA says that it will provide an additional 30-day notice before a shutdown.
The result, according to the Quinlan’s story, could be dire:
“Steve Schwerbel, director of state advocacy at the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, said several of his group’s member ISPs are at risk of losing access. In some cases, he said, the networks that Kentucky ISPs rely on will become fragile, because KentuckyWired serves as a backup system in the event of network failure. He said some networks will be completely offline until a new KentuckyWired administrator is found.”
Accelecom released a scathing statement on May 12. It begins by saying that KCNA “is deceiving the people of Kentucky about the KentuckyWired project, which it has completely mishandled. In an attempt to conceal its gross incompetence — which has already cost the Commonwealth a fortune, with more to come — KCNA has advanced the false narrative that others, this time Accelecom, are to blame for the state of the project. That is categorically false, and it’s time to set the record straight.”
Additional information about broadband in Kentucky, including links to state funding resources and grant awards made, state-specific Telecompetitor coverage, and more can be found on the Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
