Walker County Government and Thrive Regional Partnership will host another community engagement session on digital connectivity at 6 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 26, at the Walker County Civic Center. The purpose of this session will be to gather input from residents about the first draft of the county's Digital Connectivity Plan, which will be released soon.
Once complete, Walker County’s Digital Connectivity Plan will be used to seek “Broadband Ready Community” status from the state. The special designation will make the county eligible for state and federal grant dollars that could reduce the cost of expanding broadband infrastructure into unserved areas, provide resources to address digital skills and encourage economic development.
Representatives from Kinetic by Windstream will also be on hand to provide an update on their fiber buildout in the Armuchee Valley, Center Post and Kensington communities.
The project involves extending 323 miles of fiber to connect 3,339 homes and businesses in rural Walker County.
Officials said, "During a previous community listening session, residents shared the challenges they face with Internet access. Those issues ranged from affordability to slow upload/download speeds and spotty service.
"Community input for the Digital Connectivity Plan continues to be accepted at walkercountyga.gov. Residents just need to click the banner link and answer a few short questions about barriers they face to using the internet.
"Georgia recently received $1.3 billion in federal funds from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program to support broadband grant initiatives across the state."