State of TN invests more than $200 million in broadband access statewide

Local high-speed internet services have recently received funding from the state government for full broadband access in unserved and underserved areas. Taylre Beaty, state broadband director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, said funding for the counties across the state is to ensure every area throughout Tennessee has access to high-speed internet by December 2028. "We've been working at the state with the U.S. Department of Commerce over the last few years, like other states, to get what they're calling a final proposal approved to be able to demonstrate that we can use a portion of the funding to get universal coverage of all remaining unserved and underserved households and businesses in the state served," she said. Beaty explained the funding comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. According to a press release from the TNECD, the proposal to have broadband available across the entirety of Tennessee was approved in February, permitting the latest rounds of funds to go to 128 projects across 74 counties and deliver broadband service to more than 43,000 unserved/underserved locations. The local companies that received the state-administered broadband funding includes Brightspeed, serving parts of Carter, Hawkins, Sullivan and Washington counties, as well as BrightRidge, serving areas of Washington County. Alongside Brightspeed and BrightRidge, Amazon Leo received $2.4 million that will also affect Sullivan, Unicoi and Hawkins counties, and Greeneville Energy Authority received $10.9 million to serve parts of Greene County. Beaty said the money will be used to help install the equipment necessary for high speed internet accessibility. "We actually are partnering with internet service providers through grants to be able to build out the actual broadband infrastructure," Beaty said. "Or, depending on the funding [and] technology type, we have some low Earth orbit satellites, so we're going to be working with them to do what's called 'reserving the capacity' to be able to serve some of those locations as well." For Northeast Tennessee, Beaty said the impact of getting broadband to households and businesses is reflected in how it affects healthcare, tele-health services, education and workforce development. Faster internet will allow rural areas to reach the healthcare they need, and educational formats will have the ability to give their audiences more access to opportunities. Beaty added faster internet also leads to better health and wellness prospects, causing retention of people in the area. "It allows for folks in that community to stay in that community and have the quality of life that they want there without necessarily having to leave long-term," Beaty said. "I think the possibilities are certainly endless, but we get really excited about how this really improves their quality of life and gives them the chance to be brought to 2026 technology while also getting to have the quality of life and the location that they chose to stay in." Having broadband accessibility in East Tennessee will also impact the agriculture industry. Beaty said having the quick internet services will benefit farmers in their farm maintenance, especially livestock farmers and the management of their animals. "I know East Tennessee is a very big [agricultural] part of the state, especially in livestock, and I think advancements in things like herd management and wellness and the drone piece of, 'How do we go out and find livestock on our property?' – those things are going to be dependent and are dependent on effective technology and connectivity," she said. "I think this just helps us have an expanded opportunity for our farmers…that are in that agribusiness space to be able to adapt to that long term." With the implementation of broadband being available statewide by the end of 2028, Beaty said having that access in the community is beneficial to the future of the region and the people and businesses within it, especially as technology continues to evolve and requires faster services for its workability. "BrightRidge is a great example – they have super fast internet because they've been future-proofing their networks," Beaty said. "We're putting the structure in place that can be built upon and adapted over time to different types of technology needs. I think that's what's really great about this, is we're trying to be as future-proof as possible so that as our technology needs and speeds for internet access change, the technology and the infrastructure is out there to be able to both adapt to that, be built upon and improved upon."