Kansas just handed out $28.5 million in broadband grants to a dozen companies through the Lasting Infrastructure and Network Connectivity (LINC) program.
LINC funding is focused on broadband infrastructure (specifically, enabling a minimum of 100/20 Mbps speeds), internet exchange point facilities and middle mile infrastructure.
Over $22 million of the newly announced grants will go toward broadband infrastructure to connect over 2,000 locations.
KwiKom was the biggest winner with an award over $4 million. The infrastructure category also included Haviland Broadband, IdeaTek, KanOklaNetworks, KwiKom, Mokan Dial, Nex-Tech, Prairie Band Pottawatomi Nation, Vyve and WTC.
Connected Nation will get $5 million to construct the state's first carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point.
In its own announcement Connected Nation said the facility will allow local and regional networks to “directly peer (i.e., exchange data traffic) with each other, as well as cloud services and content networks,” including Amazon, Netflix, Google and Microsoft.
The LINC round also saw Cunningham Communication receive a grant specifically for middle mile infrastructure.
Including matching funds from service providers, the total broadband investment in LINC is expected to surpass $33.9 million, with hopes to bring Kansas to its goal of becoming “a top 10 state for broadband.” Entities eligible to apply for the LINC program include ISPs, political subdivisions, tribal governments, cooperatives and non-profit organizations.
Many in the state “have shared their frustration about a lack of access to high-speed internet that is crucial to remote work and precision agriculture, among other needs,” Broadband Development Director Jade Piros de Carvalho said at the LINC program’s launch in May.
That said, Kansas seems to be casting a wide net when it comes to supporting broadband expansion.
This week’s LINC grants come just days after Governor Laura Kelly announced $5 million in awards in the latest round of the state’s Broadband Acceleration Grants for 2023. Eight internet service providers (ISPs) won in that round, including IdeaTek, KwiKom and WTC.
And Kansas is one of the states moving quickly to capitalize on its share of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program funding. According to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Kansas is one of four states that have completed six of eight phases in the formal BEAD proposal process.
Only two other states, Louisiana and Virginia, are ahead of them with seven of eight phases completed.
To stay updated on each state’s progress as they plan to implement their share of the $42.45 billion BEAD program, the NTIA last month launched a public dashboard which can be found here.