Kinetic’s $20.4M project to light 8K Lumpkin County, Ga. locations with fiber internet

Soon about 8,200 homes in unserved and underserved parts of Georgia’s Lumpkin County will be able to access fiber-based broadband service thanks to a public-private partnership between the county and Windstream’s Kinetic. The $20.4 million project to provide fiber broadband to Dahlonega and throughout the county is expected to be completed next year.

To fund the network build, the county will use about $6.9 million in state grant money from the federal government. The funding sources include the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Rural Development Opportunity Fund (RDOF), and the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program, part of the federal American Rescue Plan COVID-19 stimulus package.

Kinetic will invest $13.5 million and cover any cost overruns. As part of the network build, Kinetic will lay more than 450 miles of optical fiber cable to bring high-speed internet to residences, businesses and schools.

Kinetic’s fiber broadband service will enable users to access 1 Gbps at symmetrical speeds.

An Essential Tool

Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp said Kinetic’s efforts are a recognition that high-speed internet is “an essential tool” that has been lacking in rural areas like Lumpkin County.

Speaking Thursday at an event at the Dahlonega–Lumpkin County Visitors Center announcing the project, Kemp thanked the people of Windstream for “fulfilling their commitment” to bring fast, reliable fiber broadband to Lumpkin County and other rural communities “literally all over the state.”

And while enabling consumers with better broadband is essential, Lumpkin County Development Authority board Chairman Henry Davis said the fiber network would help the newly enhanced telecom infrastructure could bolster the county’s local economy. “We understand that high-speed internet is critical for all of our business, manufacturing, healthcare and education industries and institutions,” he said. “Kinetic’s new fiber will strengthen our county’s economic development efforts and help us to attract jobs for the 21^st-century economy.”

Multi-year gigabit expansion

Kinetic’s Lumpkin County fiber project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital investment strategy by Kinetic to expand gigabit fiber service across its 18-state footprint.

In June, the State of Georgia has awarded $8.5 million to Kinetic to deploy fiber broadband infrastructure in three other Georgia counties. The grants are the second Kinetic has received this year from the state’s Capital Projects Fund Grant Program, using money awarded via the American Rescue Plan Act.

The grants, which Kinetic will match with $11.2 million of its own money, will support deployment of fiber broadband networks to 1,425 locations in Calhoun County, 420 locations in Echols County, and 299 locations in Webster County. Kinetic says that it has launched planning and engineering efforts for the deployments, which the company expects to complete by the grant deadline of year-end 2026.