Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday awarded nearly $53.5 million to expand high-speed internet across Alabama, marking another milestone in the state's years-long effort to close the digital divide in rural areas.

The grant awarded to Alabama Fiber Network, a consortium of electric power and generation/transmission cooperatives, will help develop the second phase of the state’s “middle mile” broadband network rollout, which will impact 24 Alabama counties.

The Middle Mile Project is designed to close the broadband expansion gap and make it more cost-effective and labor-intensive for providers to extend broadband service to businesses and homes across the state.

“This project will add approximately 1,095 miles of high-speed, medium-range broadband to our communities and connect approximately 120 community anchors to this service, including educational institutions, health care facilities, local government offices, police and fire stations,” said Governor Ivey.

“Equally important, it brings us one step closer to ensuring everyone in Alabama has access to this essential service.”

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This latest grant from the Alabama Anchor Institute/Middle Mile Program will provide high-speed connectivity in Baldwin, Coffee, Colbert, Covington, Dale, Dallas, DeKalb, Elmore, Etowah, Franklin, Hale, Jefferson, Lee, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marshall, Mobile, Montgomery, Perry, Russell, Tuscaloosa and Walker counties.

The project will provide high-speed internet connectivity to more than 7,500 unserved businesses and residences within a five-mile radius. Funding for this latest middle-mile project was allocated from the state's allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) will administer the program through the Alabama Digital Extension Division, which was created by Governor Ivey and the Alabama Legislature to focus on broadband expansion in the state.

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“This grant phase is another major step in the long but achievable process of providing high-speed internet to every corner of our state,” said ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell. “We commend Alabama Fiber Network for this collaborative effort and their key role in this undertaking. We appreciate the trust Governor Ivey and the Alabama Legislature have shown in ADECA by entrusting us with this life-changing program.”

The Alabama Fiber Network is made up of electric cooperatives including Central Alabama Electric Cooperative, Coosa Valley Electric Cooperative, Covington Electric Cooperative, Cullman Electric Cooperative, Joe Wheeler Electric Members Cooperative, North Alabama Electric Cooperative and Tombigbee Electric Cooperative, as well as PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, a generation/transmission cooperative.

According to AFN, the network will be completed much faster than typical buildouts for networks of this size and scale. When fully built out, the Alabama Fiber Network will be a 5,000-mile, multi-terabit middle-mile network, making it one of the most comprehensive state-based middle-mile networks in the United States.

With ongoing projects and close oversight by lawmakers, including plans for additional meetings and reports by the ARPA Commission, Alabama is on track to achieve its goal of providing comprehensive broadband connectivity.

Grayson Everett is the state and politics editor for Yellow Hammer News. You can follow him on Twitter. Grayson