Some 6,300 homes and businesses in Bullitt County will be able to get high-speed fiber internet for the first time, due to a $6.8 million public–private partnership with broadband provider Kinetic.
The project, expected to start in early October, will provide internet speeds up to 8 gigabits per second to eligible homes and business in several parts of the county, including the unincorporated communities of Cedar Grove, Solitude and Brownington, Kentucky, according to a news release.
Under the partnership, the county will commit $2 million from its general fund to support the project. Kinetic, which is part of Windstream, will invest $4.8 million and cover any cost overruns.
The combined venture will enable Kinetic to lay about 170 miles of optical fiber cable to bring high-speed internet to residences, businesses and schools, with work expected to be completed next year.
“I applaud Kinetic and Bullitt County for investing together, in partnership, so that some 6,300 homes and businesses in remote areas of this great county benefit from fiber broadband,” Bullitt County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Anita Stump said at a project announcement at the Bullitt County Central Library in Shepherdsville on Monday.
“High-speed internet, like we’re getting here, is a necessity in today’s world, and the combined investment of Kinetic and Bullitt County will ensure that more and more people here benefit from fiber broadband,” she said.
The Bullitt County fiber project is part of a $2 billion multiyear capital investment strategy to dramatically expand gigabit internet service across Kinetic’s 18-state footprint. As a result of Kinetic’s network expansion, the company either has or will have fiber in every county it serves in Kentucky over the next couple of years. The company has invested more than $211 million in just two years to expand broadband access in the commonwealth.
Kinetic also recently opened a 30,000-square-foot regional headquarters at the University of Kentucky’s Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington.
Bullitt County households and businesses wanting to find out if they are eligible for a fiber broadband upgrade may visit GoKinetic.com. They also can visit or call the Kinetic Connection Center retail store at 111 S. Main St. in Elizabethtown. Its phone number is 270-765-1892.
“We are thrilled to bring Kinetic’s ultrafast, ultrareliable 8 gigabit fiber connectivity and best-in-class internet experience to homes and businesses here in Bullitt County," Windstream President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Thomas said in the release. "This important county deserves exceptional internet, which will meet residents’ evolving demands for business, educational and personal use."
Kinetic Digital Literacy Program
At the event, Thomas also demonstrated the new Kinetic Digital Literacy Program. The Bullitt County Central Library is the nation’s first public library to offer Kinetic’s free online enrichment program, the release said.
“This is another way we at Kinetic are supporting people here in Bullitt County,” Thomas said. “For people with limited access to computers or the internet, we’re making Kinetic’s courses available at public libraries across the country, so that people can learn using library computers. We’re able to do this thanks to our relationship with the American Library Association. We’re proud that the Bullitt County Central Library is our inaugural public library for this wonderful and important digital enrichment experience."
The Kinetic Digital Literacy Program includes 12 video courses in three categories: essential computer skills, basic office software skills and daily technology skills.
In other recent broadband news, we reported on a $1.1 billion federal grant the state secured and AT&T's $33 million fiber network in Oldham County coming online.
