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Since December, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) has hosted community broadband meetings in over half of Alabama’s counties. These meetings, which are being offered in each of Alabama’s 67 counties, bring community leaders to the table and provide state-level assistance to support local efforts to expand broadband infrastructure.
“Our state serves as a national example of how to effectively, and efficiently, expand high speed internet access to our residents,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell. “These meetings give our team at ADECA the ability to have boots on the ground in communities across our state to help local leaders, internet service providers, and residents navigate the path towards full connectivity.
“The fact that we have held meetings in over a half of all of our state’s counties in such a short period of time is a big accomplishment and supports Governor Ivey’s priority of expanding the availability of high-speed internet service to unserved areas of Alabama.”
ADECA’s Digital Expansion Division developed the Alabama Community Broadband Technical Assistance Program in response to the critical need for high-speed internet access in communities across the state. Through this program, ADECA provides technical assistance meetings at the county-level for communities seeking to expand broadband infrastructure and services. These meetings are intended to be the starting point produce local insights and the data and planning needed to take advantage of future opportunities for broadband deployment.
Maureen Neighbors, chief of ADECA’s Digital Expansion Division, which facilitates these meetings and manages the department’s broadband expansion efforts, said: “Expanding broadband access to homes and businesses across the state requires support from a number of different stakeholders, especially at the local level. These meetings give us the opportunity to help local communities put together the plans and take advantage of the available resources needed to be successful. The fact that we have already held meetings in over half of Alabama’s counties, with even more already scheduled in the near future, is proof that these meetings are in great demand and are effective.”
Governor Ivey helped kick off the first Technical Assistance Program (TAP) meeting on Dec. 12 in Montgomery County. Since then, TAP meetings have also been held in Lowndes, Greene, Sumter, Marengo, Jefferson, Talladega, Escambia, Hale, Pickens, Dale, Houston, Henry, Barbour, Geneva, Crenshaw, Butler, Coffee, Pike, Covington, Dallas, Wilcox, Monroe, Conecuh, Choctaw, Clarke, Washington, Baldwin, Mobile, Fayette, Lamar, Bibb, Walker and Tuscaloosa counties.
