KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee leaders said in a release the state would give a total of $101.6 million to develop broadband infrastructure, giving more communities access to the internet and to telecommunications systems.
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said the money is part of the second round of broadband and digital opportunity grants.
It also said the new funding would provide programs to more than 97,000 Tennesseans across 75 counties. A release said the overall work to develop the state's broadband infrastructure so far connected around 700,000 Tennesseans.
The money will be spread across four programs. The Last Mile grants program will get $34.5 million. It will distribute funds across five internet service providers to increase deployment and encourage more areas of Tennessee to adopt broadband of at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds.
The Digital Skills, Employment, and Workforce Development grants program will get $16.1 million. It will distribute funds across 29 organizations to support training and education programs that improve people's digital skills and workforce development.
The Connected Community Facilities grant program will get $49.4 million to give to 31 local governments. The money will be used to develop local workforces, develop virtual health monitoring systems, support virtual education and improve broadband access.
The Broadband Ready Communities grant program will be funded with $1.6 million and will be given to 19 local governments to support community-based digital skills training and deliver the technology needed for those efforts.
A release from the department also said the state aims to make sure all residents in the state have access to high-speed internet by 2028. It also said it hopes to give them opportunities to develop digital skills, access tech jobs and connect to online learning resources as well as telehealth.
The department said it spent around $67.1 million on digital opportunity grants so far to promote digital literacy and make sure around 3 million Tennesseans had the skills they need to work virtual jobs.
