Kinetic Partners With Communities Across Georgia for $300 Million Fiber Broadband Expansion

CORNELIA, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kinetic by Windstream will partner with 18 communities across Georgia to build out high-speed internet to residents. This week, Gov. Brian Kemp and members of the Broadband Infrastructure Committee announced 49 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant projects.

“This is very good news for residents of Georgia,” said Tony Thomas, president and CEO of Windstream. “Building reliable, ultrafast internet service in rural areas requires collaboration and public-private partnerships. These partnerships allow us to accelerate our deployment of fiber broadband throughout rural Georgia. We commend Governor Kemp and the committee for their leadership on this issue.”

In addition to the $171 million awarded to counties, Kinetic will invest $133 million in private capital to complete the projects.

“Through our partnership with several counties, we will deliver fiber internet Gig service to more than 83,000 Georgia homes and businesses,” said Michael Foor, president of state operations for Kinetic. “Since our employees live and work in the communities we serve, we join these counties in celebrating and look forward to seeing the benefits to the community that result from this investment.”

Kinetic has a history of partnering successfully to deploy fiber. The company is currently engaged in deploying fiber through agreements with Colquitt EMC and Sumter EMC.

The counties receiving grants with Kinetic partnerships:

• Baldwin – 751 locations
• Berrien – 4,737 locations
• Brooks – 3,749 locations
• Chattooga – 3,392 locations
• Colquitt – 7,448 locations
• Cook – 3,723 locations
• Early – 2,683 locations
• Habersham – 3,199 locations
• Lee – 4,234 locations
• Lowndes – 18,218 locations
• Lumpkin – 6,403 locations
• Stewart – 2,729 locations
• Terrell – 2,270 locations
• Thomas – 2,098 locations
• Twiggs – 2,034 locations
• Union – 8,256 locations
• Walker – 3,339 locations
• Walton – 4,084 locations

Engineering is underway for the projects and residents can expect to see crews working in these areas soon, with a completion date by the end of 2026, the deadline set by the program.

About Kinetic

Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held Fortune® 1000 communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on Twitter at @GoKineticHome.

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