Kenneth Boswell
Ensuring Broadband Grant Success
The agency I lead, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) is the major grant-making entity for our state. ADECA is at the eight-year mark of implementing massive broadband grant programs—innovative in their scale and complexity—to address rural broadband gaps and create new economic opportunities. These programs are delivering value not only for unserved homes and businesses, but also for institutions such as universities, public safety agencies, rural hospitals, and other critical parts of the broader economic and community fabric in the state of Alabama.
In the midst of pandemic, Alabama connects 100,000—and counting—low-income students to distance learning
Only six weeks after its launch, last week marked a major milestone for the Alabama Broadband Connectivity for Students Program: We have connected more than 100,000 low-income students statewide and the number grows by the thousands each day. These Alabama students now have reliable broadband service—paid for by the State of Alabama—that enables them to do homework and distance learn, with the cost of broadband removed as a barrier to learning.