Alachua County to get $24 million for broadband

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday more than $247 million toward broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas of Florida, including $24.5 million for Alachua County residents alone.  

The funds will stretch across 63 projects in 43 counties and come in addition to the previous $226 million awarded for broadband earlier this year.  

“High-speed broadband Internet is important infrastructure for Florida communities and will generate economic development activity and a talented labor force,” DeSantis said in a release. “Florida is proud to make investments in broadband Internet infrastructure that will benefit all Floridians and make long-term impacts in communities across the state.” 

Two projects will happen in Alachua County.  

The first provides $3.3 million to add 69 miles of fiber optic cable to 255 unserved locations in Alachua and Levy counties. The project is designated to the cities of Newberry and Archer.  

The second project, listed for Archer, Hawthorne and Micanopy, will use $21.2 million to add 787 miles of fiber optic cable to 5,799 unserved locations between Alachua, Marion and Putnum counties. 

The funding is part of the Broadband Opportunity Program. That program is funded through Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, a part of the American Rescue Plan Act passed in 2021. 

Other North Central Florida projects include:  

• Town of Penney Farms, City of Keystone Heights and the unincorporated communities of Virginia Village, Kingsley Lake, and corridors of State Roads 16, 315, and 17 – ($1,590,000) to add 115.71 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 1,498 unserved locations within Clay County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 

• Town of Penney Farms, City of Keystone Heights and the unincorporated communities of Virginia Village, Kingsley Lake, and corridors of State Roads 16, 315, and 17 – ($825,000) to add 61.93 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 730 unserved locations within Clay County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• Columbia County — ($3,435,521) to add 110 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 1,572 unserved locations within Columbia, Alachua and Union counties with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• City of Fort White – ($3,348,337) to add 143 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 1,702 unserved locations within Columbia, Gilchrist, Suwannee and Alachua counties with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• Town of Fort White, and the unincorporated areas of Five Points and Lake City– ($2,225,000) to add 65.36 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 555 unserved locations within Columbia County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• Unincorporated areas in the Town of Fort White, and in the areas of Five Points and West of Lake City – ($2,680,000) to add 86.1 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 700 unserved locations within Columbia County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 

• Unincorporated areas in the Town of Fort White, and in the areas of Five Points and West of Lake City — ($2,540,000) to add 77.01 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 631 unserved locations within Columbia County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• Unincorporated areas in the Town of Fort White, and in the areas of Five Points and West of Lake City — ($2,260,000) to add 61.8 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 386 unserved locations within Columbia County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• City of Williston, town of Bronson, and areas of East Bronson, Raleigh, East Williston, Williston Highlands and Morriston – ($4,828,110) to add 195 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 3,444 unserved locations within Levy County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 
• City of Chiefland – ($3,460,000) to add 204 miles of fiber optic cable to provide 2,580 unserved locations within Levy County with symmetrical download and upload speeds of 1GB. 

Find a full list of projects at the office of the governor’s website.