Tennessee gives grants for increased rural broadband access

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) - The state of Tennessee is giving nearly $10 million in grants to help utilities, phone cooperatives and cable TV companies extend high-speed internet service to parts of 13 counties.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that the grants announced Friday will be matched by internet providers to create nearly $20 million of additional broadband investment in rural counties.

However, the 5,000 households that the grants will help are barely more than 1 percent of the roughly 422,000 households that don’t have access to landline internet speeds that meet the federal benchmark for high speed broadband.

The grants also funded only a fraction of the $66 million in requests received from 71 utilities, communications companies and co-ops that sought funding under the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act adopted last year.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com