Governor Kelly announced Thursday that more than 21,000 Kansas homes and businesses are set to receive high-speed internet access for the first time thanks to an $83.5 million grant program through the Kansas Department of Commerce’s Office of Broadband Development.
The new grant program results from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s approval of Kansas’ Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF) broadband infrastructure plan. The federal CPF program is a $10 billion initiative available to states, territories, and tribal governments under the American Rescue Plan Act to fund capital projects. A priority of the program is to support broadband expansion to facilitate work, education, and healthcare in areas that lack access to internet speeds of 100/20 Mbps.
Those eligible to apply for the CPF broadband infrastructure program include internet service providers, political subdivisions, cooperatives and non-profit organizations.
The grant application window will be open for four weeks beginning July 18th. A full list of program guidelines and the application will be posted on the Office of Broadband Development’s website next week.
The Office of Broadband Development will also be conducting a webinar to review program guidelines on Thursday, July 21, at 12:30 p.m. CDT. Registration for the meeting can be found here. After registering, a confirmation email will be sent containing information about joining the meeting.
Grant awards and awardees will be announced in October and November.
