Kentucky’s middle-mile network is set to go dark, disconnecting thousands of residents

Thousands of Kentucky residents could lose internet access in the coming weeks after KentuckyWired, the state’s open-access middle-mile broadband network, cancelled its contract with the network’s administrator. In mid-April, internet service providers in Kentucky began receiving a 30-day disconnection notice from KentuckyWired and the agency that oversees the network, the Kentucky Communications Network Authority. The KentuckyWired system was announced as a public-private partnership in 2013 to provide each county in the state with a high-speed broadband access point. After a troubled and costly rollout, the network has provided critical internet infrastructure to state and local government offices, courthouses, hospitals, schools, colleges, and businesses. Beyond critical services, half of the 3,200-mile fiber optic KentuckyWired network allows private internet service providers to tap into sell last-mile services, especially in rural and other hard-to-reach areas. The KCNA terminated its contract with the telecommunications firm Accelecom following “a series of ongoing serious breaches of contract.”