Kinetic Partners With Communities Across Georgia for $300 Million Fiber Broadband Expansion

By: Windstream Holdings via Business Wire

February 03, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST

Kinetic by Windstream will partner with 18 communities across Georgia to build out high-speed internet to residents. This week, Gov. Brian Kemp and members of the Broadband Infrastructure Committee announced 49 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant projects.

“This is very good news for residents of Georgia,” said Tony Thomas, president and CEO of Windstream. “Building reliable, ultrafast internet service in rural areas requires collaboration and public-private partnerships. These partnerships allow us to accelerate our deployment of fiber broadband throughout rural Georgia. We commend Governor Kemp and the committee for their leadership on this issue.”

In addition to the $171 million awarded to counties, Kinetic will invest $133 million in private capital to complete the projects.

“Through our partnership with several counties, we will deliver fiber internet Gig service to more than 83,000 Georgia homes and businesses,” said Michael Foor, president of state operations for Kinetic. “Since our employees live and work in the communities we serve, we join these counties in celebrating and look forward to seeing the benefits to the community that result from this investment.”

Kinetic has a history of partnering successfully to deploy fiber. The company is currently engaged in deploying fiber through agreements with Colquitt EMC and Sumter EMC.

The counties receiving grants with Kinetic partnerships:

Baldwin – 751 locations
Berrien – 4,737 locations
Brooks – 3,749 locations
Chattooga – 3,392 locations
Colquitt – 7,448 locations
Cook – 3,723 locations
Early – 2,683 locations
Habersham – 3,199 locations
Lee – 4,234 locations
Lowndes – 18,218 locations
Lumpkin – 6,403 locations
Stewart – 2,729 locations
Terrell – 2,270 locations
Thomas – 2,098 locations
Twiggs – 2,034 locations
Union – 8,256 locations
Walker – 3,339 locations
Walton – 4,084 locations

Engineering is underway for the projects and residents can expect to see crews working in these areas soon, with a completion date by the end of 2026, the deadline set by the program.

About Kinetic

Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held Fortune® 1000 communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on Twitter at @GoKineticHome.

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