The Delaware Department of Technology and Information (DTI) Delaware Broadband Office (DBO) confirmed that two internet service providers will begin construction this spring to extend broadband service to more than 5,700 unserved and underserved homes and businesses throughout the state.
The announcement comes after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) gave final approval to Delaware’s plans and Federal grant awards. The $17.4 million in funds for the expansion grants are part of the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Delaware noted that it is one of the first states in the country to reach final approval with NTIA.
Delaware believes that construction by the two selected providers, Verizon and Comcast, will be completed by the end of 2027. This schedule is ahead of the four years permitted under the BEAD Program.
“Most of the homes and businesses to be connected with these funds are in our state’s rural areas, and they have been living a different life than the rest of us in terms of being able to use the internet for work, school, healthcare and entertainment,” Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long said. “With the remarkable investment led by President Biden and our congressional delegation and the focus and hard work by Governor John Carney and DTI, we now have a timeline for when those Delawareans will be caught up.”
In addition to the Federal funding, the project will leverage nearly $90 million in private funding through a match from the internet service providers. Following two years of Federal planning and approvals, DBO held an open and competitive process and received a total of 21 proposals from five internet service providers to provide service to eight grant areas across the state. Comcast and Verizon have been selected to deploy high-speed internet infrastructure to these areas, which represent the final homes in Delaware without access to the internet or without another government program funding deployment of service.
“Today’s approval is the result of years of diligent work to identify the parts of our state with access issues and provide targeted relief to our communities across the state,” said state Chief Information Officer Greg Lane. “We are excited to move into implementation and continue Delaware’s proud history of closing digital divides and improving access to digital opportunity.”
