(The Center Square) – The FBI is sending more than $6.4 million to Georgia to help the state plan for high-speed internet, and a state legislature said the number has been pushed to more than 100 million US dollar could rise.
The money, awarded by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is part of the Internet for All grant program.
Funding for the program was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Employment Act, referred to by some politicians as the bipartisan Infrastructure Act. State officials will use the money to plan how to provide an “affordable, equitable and reliable” internet nationwide and develop “digital skills training programs.”
“These new funds will enable Georgia to provide affordable and reliable high-speed internet services across the state and open up greater opportunities for jobs and education,” Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in an announcement.
Georgia will receive nearly $5 million from the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program, part of which it will use to identify “unserved and underserved locations.” The Peach State also received more than $1.4 million from the Digital Equity Act program to, in part, create “an inventory of digital equity programs statewide” and work with the Georgia Digital Equity Taskforce.
According to a press release, 56 states and territories have applied for planning funds under the BEAD and Digital Equity Act programs. The Feds said they continue to announce awards.
State Senator Tonya Anderson of D-Lithonia commended President Joe Biden’s administration for awarding the scholarship to Georgia.
“A zip code shouldn’t determine whether a child can go to school online, a parent can attend a team meeting, or a family wants to order something from a store,” Anderson said in a statement. “Broadband is just as important as electricity and water. We cannot be satisfied until residents in all 159 counties have reliable broadband service.”
According to Anderson, the $6.4 million will grow to more than $100 million “in the coming years.”
