The city of Lonoke in partnership with CableSouth Media 3 has received a $2 million grant to deploy high-speed Internet connections to homes in the city, the Arkansas Department of Commerce announced Tuesday.
The grant is the third the agency has awarded under the Arkansas Rural Connect broadband grant program, a 2019 initiative by the Arkansas Legislature and Gov. Asa Hutchinson to expand broadband access in under-served areas of the state. Fairfield Bay and Ozark were the previous recipients.
The program provides grants to qualifying communities with populations of no less than 500. The high-speed broadband must have a rate of at least 25 megabits per second for download and 3 megabits per second for upload.
The program was boosted by $19.3 million the Commerce Department received through the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump in March.
The department is evaluating applications with a focus on projects that can deploy broadband to qualified areas before Dec. 30, according to a news release. For more information or to apply for an Arkansas Rural Connect grant, visit www.broadband.arkansas.gov.