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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Brightspeed, the nation’s third-largest fiber broadband builder, announced it has won federal Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program funds totaling $528,162,466.97 across 17 states.
The latest states to announce BEAD program awards include Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and South Carolina where Brightspeed was awarded $181,064,376 to reach an additional 90,852 homes and businesses with its multi-gig-speed Brightspeed Fiber Internet network.
“Our investment, combined with this latest round of BEAD funding, is about more than laying fiber; it’s about changing lives,” said Brightspeed Executive Chairman and CEO Michel Combes. “Every mile we build brings new opportunities - students who can learn without limits, small businesses that can thrive in the digital economy and families who can access healthcare and stay connected to loved ones. This funding accelerates our commitment to close the digital divide.”
In addition to the BEAD program funding, Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin already awarded Brightspeed nearly $294.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to augment the company’s multi-million-dollar fiber network deployment investment in those states. The ARPA funds will give more than 140,000 Americans in those 13 states access to high-speed connectivity they don’t have today.
