State’s $803,762 to fund Cave City’s broadband

Cave City is the latest recipient of a grant from the Arkansas Department of Commerce’s broadband program.

The town of 1,904 that straddles the border of Independence and Sharp counties received $803,762 from Arkansas Rural Connect and will work in partnership with Hillbilly Wireless to deploy fixed wireless to homes in Cave City.

To date, the department has awarded five grants totaling $6.6 million. The other recipients are Fairfield Bay, Ozark, Lonoke and Nashville.

“I constantly hear from economic development leaders across the state about the poor broadband coverage in rural Arkansas,” Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston said in a news release. “The … program will change that and allow rural Arkansas to compete globally.”

The program is supported by $19.3 million from the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to help provide grants to qualifying communities with populations of at least 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.

“Broadband is essential infrastructure and is similar to electricity, clean water, and paved roads,” Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.

Grant recipients must spend the coronavirus federal funds by Dec. 30. Another $4.7 million is available in state funds for projects that would extend beyond Dec. 30. The goal of the program is to provide high-speed broadband to rural communities.

“Like many rural areas across the state, District 19 suffers from not having quality broadband,” said Sen. James Sturch, R-Batesville. “Connecting Cave City is a good first step to expand the broadband footprint in North Arkansas.”

More information is available at www.broadband.arkansas.gov.