Bringing high-speed internet to North Florida.
Several of our Big Bend counties, including Leon, Gadsden, Suwannee, Lafayette, Liberty and Hamilton, all receiving millions of dollars to deploy fiber-optic cable.
People are excited to see the first steps taken to help improve internet access in Gadsden County communities.
"We could be just one road over from high-speed broadband and so with all of this coming to the county now it definitely opens up those avenues for everybody in the county and not just those that are on the main highways," said Elijah Key, one of the thousands of people affected by slow, poor quality internet connection in Gadsden County.
New federal and state funding will bring high speed internet connection to rural areas like the city of Quincy.
According to the governor's office, $144 million will go to 41 Florida counties for broadband internet expansion that will impact undeserved areas. Gadsden county will receive over $1.8 million to connect over 3,000 homes and businesses, money Quincy City Manager Robert Nixon said will allow them to put better infrastructure in place to improve connection for people and businesses in Gadsden and surrounding areas.
"It is a necessity, it's no longer an option. It's just like roads and sewer and other things that we really rely on, and our businesses and our citizens rely on the internet for commerce and for recreational opportunities but also for employment," said Nixon.
It's also a necessity for schools.
Gadsden County Superintendent Elijah Key said poor internet connection at home makes it hard for students to complete online homework or activities.
"When kids are at home and the internet is acting up because everybody's trying to do something on it, it causes frustrations so either kids continue to try, or they quit," explained Key.
Key said they've partnered with the county and other companies to provide students mobile Wi-Fi hotspot devices to help give them connection at home.
Nixon is happy to see that action is finally being taken on a long-time issue.
"It's something that we've known. It's something that our state has known and so we're just excited now that we're all committed to that goal and that we're starting to see where the rubber is hitting the road," said Nixon.
Nixon said the next step is for county and city leaders to allocate that money to different infrastructure projects.
