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Over 100,000 Pennsylvanians are set to be connected by dozens of broadband projects across more than 40 counties after the state announced the release of more than $200 million in federal funding for high-speed internet.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
More than $204 million in public funds will be matched by over $200 million from private sources to fund broadband expansion projects in Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA), which announced the investment last week.
The money will fund 53 broadband projects in 42 counties, connecting over 40,000 residents and businesses, the PBDA’s announcement stated.
“These projects will leverage historic federal funding and private investment to connect communities to the internet – and the PBDA will continue working to make this a reality for even more Pennsylvanians,” said PBDA Executive Director Brandon Carson.
Carson called the grant awards a significant step forward towards connecting the state.
“As Pennsylvanians increasingly rely on broadband to live healthy and productive lives, expanding access to the internet is essential to creating opportunity for folks all across our Commonwealth,” he said, according to the PBDA’s release.
Projects selected for the grants were determined based on their size and scope, as well as the ability of the applicant to follow through on a given proposed deployment. Eligibility based on the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map also factored in.
As part of PBDA’s announcement, the state’s broadband authority reminded Pennsylvania stakeholders about the ability to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s BEAD Challenge Process.
“The BEAD Challenge Process allows stakeholders to dispute the data sourced from the National Broadband Map by using relevant and allowable evidence, including local data,” PBDA’s announcement stated.
Nearly half of the projects, 22 in total, are being built by Verizon, while a dozen projects in the latest round of funding are being led by Comcast. Other organizations to be awarded funds last week included Claverack Communications, Armstrong Telecommunications, Alleghenies Broadband, and Upward Broadband.
Firms awarded the funds will now be tasked with building networks that either meet or exceed the required symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Megabits per second, the PBDA’s announcement explained. The projects were given a deadline of Dec. 31, 2026.
The grants, part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Program and funded through the federal Capital Projects Fund, will require network builders to formulate strategies “to maintain, repair, and upgrade existing networks to ensure their continued operation.”
According to the PBDA, 95 percent of Pennsylvania’s unserved population lives in rural areas of the state.
Areas like Adams, Blair, Cambria, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Perry, Mercer, McKean, Schuylkill, and Somerset were named as localities to be connected by the recent round of grant projects, with a full list of projects available here, on PBDA’s website.
