NAUVOO – Gov. Kay Ivey was in Walker County to celebrate construction on a fiber-optic network buildout that will ultimately bring gigabit broadband and other Spectrum services to more than 6,500 homes and small businesses in the area.
Ivey was joined by U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed, State Rep. Matt Woods and officials from Spectrum for a press conference just outside the Old Harbin Hotel in Nauvoo.
“My administration has prioritized expanding access to reliable high-speed internet service for families and businesses throughout Alabama,” Ivey said. “Today, we celebrate breaking ground on Spectrum’s public-private partnership with the state to advance broadband connectivity in rural Walker County.”
Aderholt said he has worked on expanding broadband access in rural parts of the state for a long time.
“For many years we have been working to close the digital divide across the state and country, and this expansion by Spectrum is a big step towards doing so,” Aderholt said. “Many of my constituents here in Alabama’s Fourth District feel the strain every day of not having access to high-speed, reliable broadband, and I am excited to see great progress like this.”
The network buildout is partially attributed to a $4.95 million Alabama Department of Community and Economic Affairs (ADECA) grant recently awarded to Spectrum to connect more than 2,100 unserved locations.
“I am thrilled that Spectrum received an ADECA grant to expand its services to Nauvoo and other unserved parts of Walker County,” Woods saod. “It opens the door for new business opportunities and for residents to be more connected and to work and learn from home.”
When the ADECA grant is paired with ongoing rural expansion through the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), Spectrum is building fiber connectivity to more than 6,500 unserved locations in Walker County. The company’s total RDOF expansion will provide broadband access to approximately 1 million customer locations, as estimated by the FCC, across 24 states in the coming years.
“Broadband is a vital resource for work, learning and personal connection,” said Tony Sieiro, Spectrum’s Area Vice President in Alabama. “Leveraging resources won in the ADECA grant process and RDOF auction, we’re building a high-speed, high-capacity network that will bring gigabit internet to thousands of homes and small businesses in Walker County — an investment that will ensure families and businesses can participate fully in the digital world, now and well into the future.”
Spectrum serves more than 652,000 customers across 238 communities in Alabama.
“The state of Alabama has made historic strides toward expanding internet access to all Alabamians, regardless of ZIP code,” Reed said. “We’ve seen unprecedented investments and public-private partnerships — just like with Spectrum here in Walker County — that are resulting in efficient and expeditious deployment of high-speed internet access to our most rural pockets of the state.”
