<div>Kentucky Broadband Office’s Run for the Roses Writers are asked to reveal any personal bias they may have up front in an article. Full disclosure, growing up in Indiana I was raised to hate Kentucky (basketball teams). Pushing past my bias (I am a PROFESSIONAL), I sat down with Meghan Sandfoss, executive director of the state’s Office of Broadband Development to understand what the office has accomplished to-date and find out its plans for BEAD.The Kentucky MuleAnyone who has ever watched Justified knows that it is based in the ‘hollers’ in eastern Kentucky and characterizes the area as ultra-rural. I asked Sandfoss if this was an accurate portrayal, and while the plot twists are exaggerated, the low population density is not. Sandfoss explains that Eastern Kentucky includes 54 Appalachian counties (of the state’s 120 counties) and 36 meet the Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) definition of ‘economically distressed.’The region has unique challenges for broadband connectivity, because some homes and small communities are very isolated from larger population centers. That means in some cases, it takes a mile of fiber to reach just one additional home. But Sandfoss explains that Kentuckians have faced this challenge head on and are determined to succeed. “There's also success stories in the eastern part of the state as several telephone cooperatives are providing fiber broadband service in this region.” She said one provider even used a mule to carry fiber up the side of a mountain. The rest of the state’s geography is “beautiful hills” in central Kentucky and flatter land in the west. “Even areas that would be considered urbanized, Louisville and Lexington, have significant rural areas surrounding them,” says Sandfoss. End of ACP Hits Especially Hard Sandfoss bemoans the end of the Federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) that lowered the cost of internet service for disadvantaged households. But Kentucky responded quickly as it has already defined its low-cost option for BEAD, with the price point needing to be between $30 to $65 a month. “We’re hopeful ACP comes back,” says Sandfoss, “but for now, we are trying to lower costs for Kentuckians with this definition, while providing a wide enough price range to provide flexibility for providers so that applying for BEAD funds remains appealing.” <img src="https://assets-v2.circle.so/7gzya1b3i5exdr1w22g5e68umbyv" style="width: 100%;">A Later Start than Most Kentucky’s broadband office was created in the spring of 2022. Sandfoss was hired to stand up the office, put ARPA dollars in motion, and begin planning for BEAD.The Commonwealth had allocated $300 million in ARPA funds to broadband deployment from the Treasury's State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) and Capital Projects Fund (CPF).  “A majority of the $117 million in SLFRF was awarded right before I started. But from day one, I needed to finalize these grants and then move to opening applications for CPF, as well as the remaining SLFRF funds.”Today, Kentucky’s Office of Broadband Development is administratively attached to the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority in Frankfort. The team currently stands at five members, but hiring processes are ongoing to expand.Turning back to ARPA interest in the state, Sandfoss says that the broadband office was ‘inundated’ with applications. The funds requested were more than double the funds available. When awarding grants, the state asked that ARPA applications address areas with ‘no service’ (less than 10/1). Sandfoss says that the ARPA investment will take nearly 80,000 BSLs off the map. Presently, ARPA projects are underway, with some projects in due diligence phases while others are at or near completion. In BEAD ‘make-ready’ news, the state is preparing by investing nearly $20 million for pole replacements and temporary labor to support the processing of permit requests, reimbursing the costs to reach unserved areas. Deploying BEAD in Bluegrass Country After considering planned service and existing enforceable commitments, Sandfoss estimates 160K locations will be eligible for BEAD funding and will need to be reached to achieve universal access. The state secured $1.1 billion in allocated BEAD dollars. These will be combined with matching funds, which were aggressive for the ARPA grant application process. Despite significant Federal regulations attached to BEAD, Sandfoss expects the same, healthy matching amounts from BEAD subgrantees. “I think we have enough money to reach everyone,” says Sandfoss. “In really competitive areas, if someone comes in with a 75% grant request [25% matching], they may have to get all of the other points in order to win.”<img src="https://assets-v2.circle.so/4km4trlc8ua8vzll4mltxgpof78v" style="width: 100%;">Volume 2 was approved in mid-June, starting the 365-day clock. With the challenge process closed, the Office is working with NTIA to finalize the list of eligible locations.  Pre-qualifications took place between August 14 and September 13 with more than 40 organizations going through that process, hopefully expediting the subgrantee application process. The application phase will last 60 days, during which pre-qualified applicants may submit project applications. Sandfoss says that Kentucky left open the potential to do multiple rounds of applications, “…but I think depending on how the first round comes in, we may go directly to negotiations for the uncommitted areas versus doing a second round. The timing [365-days] necessitates this.” Sandfoss says alternative technologies will not be on the table until negotiations in round two. “If we go off previous rounds of applications, we will have almost entirely fiber with gaps being filled with a mix of cable and fiber.”If all goes according to plan, BEAD money will start flowing in the fall of 2025. My Old Kentucky Home Sandfoss lives in Covington, in northern Kentucky, home of the Cincinnati airport (seriously) with her husband and two children.  Prior to taking on the broadband post, Sandfoss was doing great work for 18 years in one of Kentucky’s 15 area development districts, overseeing the community development and public administration division. “I've spent my whole career working in community development and the broadband office is a natural extension of that,’ says Sandfoss. “During most of this time, broadband was indeed on my radar.” It was with the area development district that Sandfoss began her long relationship with Federal grants, programs, and the accompanying minutia. A self-described ‘stubborn’ individual, Sandfoss takes some joy in tackling thankless tasks. “I like doing the work that sometimes is not the most exciting. But I keep in mind how meaningful the big picture is, getting broadband to every person in Kentucky.” Sandfoss describes herself as ‘persistent’ and says that she has a ‘very high threshold for frustration’ and enjoys operationalizing policies into processes and programs. She won’t stop until the job is finished. “I won't be happy until it's done. I like to see things through to the end.”  </div>

body

Meet Meghan, KY

<div>The <a href="https://aapb.us/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Association for Public Broadband</a> on January 16, 2024, sent a letter to the Kentucky General Assembly in opposition to proposed legislation by State Senator Gex Williams that would require the Frankfort Plant Board to sell its telecommunications business to a private entity. The FPB has been providing communications services to the residents of Kentucky’s Capital City since 1952 and has been providing broadband Internet access service since 2021. AAPB Executive Director <a class="mention" href="https://www.broadband.io/u/59213541" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@Gigi Sohn</a> issued the following statement:<blockquote>The attack on the highly successful and immensely popular Frankfort Plant Board is just the latest in a series of recent dark money efforts to slow the inevitable march toward communities owning their broadband futures. One wonders what has possessed Senator Williams to attempt to upend a public utility that provides robust and affordable broadband Internet access with an incredible 65% take rate. Legislation that would force the sale of a telecommunications business that has provided critical services to the Capital City for over 70 years is a solution in search of a problem. Just as in Utah, Michigan and Massachusetts, out-of-state giant incumbent broadband providers continue to hide behind surrogates in an attempt to block competition and community choice.  AAPB will continue to shine a light on and oppose these efforts every time they arise.</blockquote></div>

American Association for Public Broadband opposes restrictions in Kentucky

Meghan Sandfoss

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-yield-on-cost-without-grant.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-yield-on-cost-with-75%-covered-by-grant.png

Type=Cover, State=KY.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-business-establishments.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-business-establishments-in-underserved-area.png

Type=Card, State=KY.png

kentucky-broadband-grant-map.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-price-competition.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-ready-strength-rank.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-ready-strength-rank-population.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-rec-coverage.png

kentucky-broadband-investment-map-small-business-establishment.png

Doug Adams

Broadband Breakfast

Kentucky State Broadband Office

Kentucky Broadband Grant Award Status

Kentucky Broadband Audit

Kentucky Broadband Director

About Kentucky Infrastructure Authority

Kentucky Broadband Articles

Meet Meghan, KY

American Association for Public Broadband opposes restrictions in Kentucky

Kentucky Broadband Investment Maps

Kentucky Map of Ready Strength Rank

Kentucky Yield on Cost Maps

Kentucky Pricing & Competition Map

Kentucky Map of Business Establishments in Underserved Areas

Kentucky Small Business Establishments Map

Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) Coverage Map

Kentucky Map of Anchor Institutions

Kentucky Provider Coverage Maps

Map of Kentucky Broadband Serviceable Locations

Enroll for free today