State awards another $101.6 million to expand broadband and digital opportunities
The grants fall into four categories that fund internet service providers, local governments, and other organizations.
The State of Tennessee has announced 84 recipients will share $101.6 million in funding as part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants.
These investments will provide last-mile broadband access and digital opportunity programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties. With this latest grant round, the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s total commitment to expanding the state’s broadband infrastructure rises to $683 million, with an additional $132.6 million invested in digital opportunity initiatives, connecting more than 700,000 Tennesseans across 280,000 residential and business locations.
The awards were announced in four categories.
- The Last Mile grants, totaling $34.5 million, will be distributed to five internet service providers. These funds will facilitate high-speed broadband access, increase deployment, and encourage adoption of broadband in areas of Tennessee that are currently lacking broadband at speeds of 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload.
- The Digital Skills, Employment, and Workforce Development (DSEW) grants, totaling $16.1 million, will be distributed to 29 organizations. These funds will support a variety of training and education programs aimed at enhancing digital skills and workforce development. These DSEW programs will help build a pipeline for high-paying digital jobs while equipping individuals with the skills needed to thrive in today’s digital economy and foster innovation.
- The Connected Community Facilities (CCF) grants, totaling $49.4 million, will be distributed to 31 local governments. These funds will enable workforce development, virtual health monitoring, virtual education, and broadband access, all within one building for communities throughout Tennessee.
- Finally, the Broadband Ready Communities (BRC) grants, totaling $1.6 million, will be distributed among 19 local governments. These funds will support community-based digital skills training and deliver the technology necessary to equip communities with digital adoption resources.
Click here for a list of recipients.
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