ATLANTA – State Representative Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia), chairman of the House Governmental Affairs Committee, and State Senator Bo Hatchett (R-Cornelia), a Governor’s Floor Leader, announce that Habersham and Rabun counties have been included in the Georgia Technology Authority’s (GTA) final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grant funding, which aims to expand high-speed internet access to certain underserved areas of Northeast Georgia.
“I am pleased to see the commitment to Northeast Georgia for expansion of high-speed internet access to remote and rural locations,” said Chairman Anderson. “Floor Leader Hatchett and I have worked diligently with the Georgia Technology Authority, local governments and organizations since the announcement of the BEAD grant program to ensure that Habersham and Rabun counties were properly considered. I congratulate both Windstream and Space Exploration Technologies (Starlink) for their being awarded the grant contracts. I also want to thank Habersham Electric Membership Corporation and their subsidiary, Trailwave, for their continued dedication to providing fiber-based internet to as many people as possible.”
“The need for broadband in our region has been clear for years, but the pandemic underscored just how essential it truly is,” said Floor Leader Hatchett. “After being left out of previous funding opportunities, we knew this round was too important to miss. That’s why Chairman Anderson and I worked to secure as much funding as possible for Northeast Georgia. From there, the federal rubric determined which providers were ultimately awarded the grants.”
The grants are part GTA’s efforts, in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (OPB), to expand broadband across the state and ensure every Georgian has access to high-speed internet. The BEAD Program, funded by more than $1.3 billion from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), is designed to support broadband projects that connect unserved and underserved locations across Georgia.
GTA’s final proposal for the BEAD Program is currently in a seven-day public comment phase before being submitted to the NTIA for final approval.
Once approved, Habersham County would receive:
- Fiber expansion: $3,334,017.94 awarded to Windstream, which would target 688 additional connections.
- Satellite internet: $78,337.70 awarded to SpaceX/Starlink, which would target 76 additional connections.
Once approved, Rabun County would receive:
- Fiber expansion: $4,757,512.38 awarded to Windstream, which would target 3,194 additional connections.
- Satellite internet: $287,733.76 awarded to SpaceX/Starlink, which would target 361 additional connections.
More information about the BEAD Program may be found here.
Representative Victor Anderson represents the citizens of District 10, which includes Rabun County, as well as most of Habersham County. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2020 and currently serves as Chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Human Resources, Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications, Industry and Labor, Intragovernmental Coordination and Public Safety and Homeland Security committees, as well as the Special Committee on Resource Management.
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