Governor Jeff Landry held a press conference on Monday to announce a $1.35 billion investment aimed at expanding internet access across the state.
The Granting Broadband Opportunity to Unserved Municipalities (Gumbo) 2.0 program provides funding to build underground fiber optic cables that will bring broadband to much of the state, especially rural areas.
“This is the best foundational opportunity Louisiana has to create great jobs, improve education and help make our police officers safer and faster,” Landry said.
The program is projected to create 8,000 to 10,000 new jobs and increase the state’s GDP by $1.3 billion. Landry also said the program will help more than 26,000 small businesses and 4,000 public agencies, such as schools and local governments.
“This impacts Main Street, not Wall Street,” he said, touting the plan as the first step in transitioning Louisiana into a “new industrial South.”
According to Louisiana Public Health Director Dr. Ralph Abraham, the funding will provide faster internet service to clinics and expand access to telehealth services in rural communities, improving public health.
“This is literally a gift that’s been dropped in our lap,” Abraham said. “We can make a dent in these populations.”
The funding will come from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.
Benise Lienger, executive director of the Louisiana Broadband and Connectivity Authority (ConnectLA), said most of the initial run will be focused on allocating grants to internet service providers (ISPs) such as AT&T and Cox Communications, as well as a number of small and medium-sized businesses. The previous program, Gumbo 1.0, which awarded $170 million in grants, received 18 applications.
“This time we’re nearly double that, with 33 different ISPs participating,” Lyengar said.
Reininger also said there are about 140,000 locations across Louisiana that are served by broadband service.
Connect LA, which was created by Rep. Darryl DeShort, R-Marksville, during the Edwards administration in 2020, appears to be a bright spot for the state, and Landry said the office’s early success is why Louisiana was the first state approved for federal funding.
“Louisiana is number one in the nation in this regard,” Landry said, “and I’m confident we can beat all other states in terms of deploying this money in the most effective and efficient way possible.”
But this massive project raises potential problems for the local community, including the risk of subcontractors damaging underground pipes and cables during construction: During Gumbo 1.0, Swfyt Fiber admitted that while building the 1,300-mile fiber optic line, it had hit underground infrastructure eight times due to inaccurate marking of pipes and cables.
Landry said the best way to prevent such problems would be to work with local governments to set up mapping systems for underground utilities, but many ISPs may be hesitant to release the data.
“Where are our water mains, where are our sewer mains. This gives us an opportunity to restart critical infrastructure in our state,” Landry said.
Another potential obstacle is the prohibitive cost of laying fiber optics in certain remote areas, in which case Lyengar suggested turning to other technologies such as low-earth orbit satellites or fixed wireless.
“The governor wants to run fiber optics as far and as deep as possible,” Ringer said. “It’s the equivalent of turning I-49 and I-20 into 20-lane concrete highways. That’s the goal.”
