Highline Awarded Grant Funds to Expand Fiber Internet Access in Kansas

ALLEN, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Highline, which does business in Kansas under the S&A Telephone brand, today announced its acquisition of a grant award from the Broadband Acceleration Grant (BAG) Program, administered annually by the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. Now in its second year, the BAG was created to bring critically needed broadband access to Kansas communities through a competitive matching-infrastructure investment program. Thanks to this additional funding, more customers in the Lyon County city of Americus will soon gain access to real high-speed internet through Highline’s expanding Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) network.

Under this Kansas state program, S&A Telephone will be awarded a grant fund, and will combine matching funds, which will provide a total investment into building and deploying the state-of-the-art fiber-optic infrastructure necessary to connect all Americus residents to reliable high-speed internet service.

In utilizing these funds, Highline advances its core mission of providing lightning-fast, gigabit-level internet access to unserved, underserved, and unhappily served households and communities across the country. Highline partners with towns, cities, and counties to bring high-speed fiber internet to thousands of dwellings across the United States in an ongoing effort to close the digital divide, improve quality of life, and enable full and equal access to an increasingly online world. The lack of adequate broadband service in Americus has been a significant issue—further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought into stark relief the difficulties associated with working remotely, schooling at home, and receiving telehealth services.

Josh Reece, Highline Operations Supervisor at S&A Telephone, shared his enthusiasm for the grant award: "I am very excited that S&A is a Broadband Acceleration Grant Program Year 2 awardee. With the possibility of getting every Americus resident connected within our grasp, we look forward to connecting 88 additional underserved homes to our fiber network. The difference will change lives for the better in this community."

S&A Telephone has been serving the areas of Allen, Admire, and Scranton since the late 1930s.

About Highline:

At Highline, we believe everyone should have access to the fastest, most reliable internet service at a fair price, regardless of where you live and work. Highline’s heritage companies have been in the telecommunications business for more than 126 years and have built, owned, and operated fiber networks for more than 27 years. Highline currently serves the communication and internet needs of thousands of residents and businesses in Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, and Texas. The company is actively expanding its state-of-the-art, lightning-fast Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) networks to provide gigabit-level internet speeds to tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the country that are currently unserved, underserved, and unhappily served.

For more information about Highline, visit www.highlinefast.com—or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/HighlineInternet or Twitter at twitter.com/highline_fast.