Kinetic, a unit of Windstream, expects to bring fiber to more than 8,200 Rowan County, Kentucky residents by the end of the year as part of a continuing, $2 billion multi-year investment to deploy broadband across its 18-state footprint.
When the company’s announced expansion is completed, Kinetic either has or will have fiber in every county it serves in Kentucky. Since 2019, the company has invested $193 million to expand broadband access in the commonwealth, providing nearly 92,000 locations with access to gig speeds at the end of 2020.
The Rowan County buildout could extend even further, according to a Windstream spokesperson. While Windstream Kinetic is funding the initial buildout, the county has applied to the Kentucky Broadband Deployment Fund for resources to build out to an additional 4000 households, which would mean fiber availability for the entire county.
There is a working agreement between Kinetic and the county for that build, if funded. The build would use approximately $5 million in state money and $5 million in matching funds from Windstream.
“Now more than ever, access to reliable, high-speed broadband is essential for commerce, education, telehealth, remote work, and overall connectivity,” said Tony Thomas, Windstream president and CE0, in a prepared statement. “Kinetic has been delivering broadband service to Rowan County and communities across Kentucky for years, and our customers know they can count on us as a trusted partner to increase economic opportunity and enhance quality of life.”
Thomas added that Morehead, KY, in Rowan County, is an important center for the company, with more than 30 Kinetic customer service technicians, network technicians, engineers and managers working in the central office.
Last month, Kinetic announced plans to expand its fiber footprint in the Houston area by bringing 1 Gbps broadband, voice, and productivity and entertainment services to more than 70,000 previously unserved homes and businesses in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land.
The Kentucky state grants this round are for areas that do not have 10/1 service. I believe Spectrum/Charter already has high speed service in some of Rowan County. Is Windstream saying they do not provide 10/1 in some of these grant application areas? Kentucky’s grant goals are to provide broadband to those that are unserved and underserved, not overbuild locations that already have broadband. All this funding provides a unique opportunity to help those that do not have broadband today. The new federal infrastructure money will not even be distributed until we have an accurate map of served locations. With so much money already flowing from so many different places (Counties, State, NTIA, USDA, FCC) we’ll see significant amounts of waste and fraud if these entities are not diligent. I think we all wish every US location was served with fiber, but let’s make sure we get broadband to unserved locations first.