County officials are following a number of paths as they work to expand broadband internet service in Oglethorpe County.
The most recent development is the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD), which isn’t funded. However, District 4 Commissioner Will Brown said the county has partnerships with two internet service providers (ISP) on the development of the program.
“We really hope that we’re successful partnering with ISPs for BEAD funding,” Brown said. “If we can get that one, that’ll probably be the biggest win that we can get.”
The BEAD program allocates $42.45 billion to enhance high-speed internet service through funding for planning, building infrastructure and promoting adoption initiatives.
Brown said connectivity in certain areas has already improved including “below (Highway) 78 and the west side of the county.” According to the U.S. Census, 79% of households in Oglethorpe County had a broadband internet subscription.
“It’s going to start, hopefully, getting more to the northeast corner, but we are still struggling to get some funding for some of those more remote locations,” Brown said. “With the CPF and all that stuff going on, the majority, if not all, of the west side should be covered.”
Jessica Simmons, deputy state chief information officer and executive director of Georgia Broadband Program at Georgia Technology Authority said BEAD is different from the current grant, called the Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
Under direction from Gov. Brian Kemp, the CPF has provided just under $8 million to promote broadband access in Oglethorpe County.
The grant through CPF, awarded to Charter Communications on behalf of Oglethorpe County, is already serving unserved locations. The difference between CPF and the BEAD program is regarding unserved and underserved areas.
“That’s what we’re also looking to do with the BEAD program as well, is certainly first get to those truly unserved locations that don’t have high speed access at all, but, then, continuing to upgrade locations so that they can keep up with demands as technology evolves,” Simmons said.
Projections of broadband access come from a federally funded program — Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) — that is designed to give broadband access to rural areas through funding. Brown said RDOF is still being developed and Windstream and Charter Communications both have RDOF census blocks and should be completed by the end of 2026.
Brown also said American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will bolster Oglethorpe County’s broadband access this year.
“With ARPA funds coming from the state, we applied with Charter as the ISP, and worked with the Georgia Technology Authority to get them a grant that was almost 3,000 addresses in the county,” Brown said.
Simmons said completing grants requires the state and local government to collaborate.
“Local government and community support is really important to us,” Simmons said. “One of the things that sometimes impacts the speed of buildouts is permitting, and that is something that happens at many levels, including at the local level.”
Early in Oglethorpe County’s journey toward broadband access, the commission had an agreement with Paladin Wireless, a company that specializes in providing wireless internet to rural communities.
The EDA voted to terminate that agreement in 2022, after the company failed to meet requirements, which called for 375 subscribers within a year of the go-live date of Sept. 1, 2020. There were only 22 active subscribers in the county as of August 2022.
Brown said in 2023 that Paladin, “stopped communicating with us,” which led the Board of Commissioners to take legal action.
“We’ve been in mediation with them, and we’re trying to finalize some documents,” Brown said. “Our attorney and their attorney have come to an agreement on a repayment plan, and mediation was in March of 2023. The county has done their part and signed the agreement, and I think we are just waiting on them to agree.”
Brown said expanding broadband access through the BEAD program, CPF and RDOF is important because high-speed internet access is vital to Oglethorpe County’s growth.
“There is no development without reliable internet at this point,” he said. “Nobody wants to live or work without the internet.”