Alabama

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.

Brightspeed acquired Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) obligations and support in nine states on October 3, 2022, as part of the acquisition of Lumen Technologies' incumbent local exchange carrier subsidiaries in twenty states. Brightspeed committed to fulfilling those obligations in connection with the Wireline Competition Bureau’s approval of the transfer of control.

This week, the Education Policy Center at the University of Alabama released a report, Broadband in Alabama’s Black Belt in 2025, that examines broadband infrastructure expansion efforts in Alabama's 24-county Black Belt region, an area characterized by persistent poverty and significant rural/urban divides. The authors set out to answer three specific questions about public investment, outcomes, and remaining connectivity gaps.

Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL), along with state and local leaders, gathered on the banks of the Alabama River to mark a practical milestone in Alabama’s broadband buildout: the Alabama Fiber Network’s middle-mile line has crossed the J.

Southern Alabama will be the major beneficiary of a $6.2 million grant to the Alabama Fiber Network. The funding will be used to deploy 125 miles of middle-mile fiber in 12 Alabama counties. The middle-mile infrastructure expansion will serve Baldwin, Bibb, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Conecuh, Dallas, Greene, Macon, Monroe, Randolph, and Washington counties. Twelve anchor institutions will be connected in the process.

The Greene County (AL) Health System, with only three doctors, has no intensive care unit or surgical services.

Alabama opened its application window on April 7 for pre-qualified broadband service providers applying for grants under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. The program is being administered in the state by the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Alabama has $1.4 billion to award for eligible projects, defined as qualifying last-mile broadband infrastructure to unserved (25/3 Mbps or less) and underserved (between 25/3 and 100/20 Mbps) locations.