The governor’s office announces its using $130 million from the federal America Rescue Plan to bring more affordable and accessible internet to more than 66,000 households and small businesses in 50 parishes.
Director of the Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity Veneeth Iyengar says various internet service providers will put up their own dollars to boost high speed internet in rural areas.
“To start to build up their workforce rapidly, to secure the necessary components as part of their supply chain, to start executing and building out the locations throughout the state,” said Iyengar.
Iyengar to find out if your parish will benefit from this money go to connect.la.gov.
“Folks can submit their home address and they can actually see if they are going to be taken care of by this first wave of announcements,” said Iyengar.
Iyengar says they expect to issue another $43 million from the America Rescue Plan by October and they’ll also be able to tap into federal dollars contained in the Infrastructure Bill. He says the goal is to eliminate the digital divide in Louisiana by 2029.
“Push this money out as quickly as possible, work with everyone to ensure this money gets out to the right places, it is spent wisely,” said Iyengar.