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For Immediate Release:
September 11, 2023
Contact:
Grace Hoge
[email protected]
ICYMI: $451M Going to Expand
High-Speed Internet Across Kansas
KEY QUOTE: “How many jobs can you apply for that require a paper application? Probably not many that pay a living wage, right? If you want government services, you have to apply online. If you want to see a doctor in your remote area, you can’t access telehealth. If you want to go to school remotely … if you have a remote job, all of these things factor into why broadband is so crucial and essential in our everyday lives.”
-Jade Piros de Carvalho, Director of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. Governor Kelly established the office in October 2020.
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Jade Piros de Carvalho sits in the control center of an ambitious $451 million, five-year initiative to deliver high-speed connectivity to tens of thousands of Kansans left behind by an internet revolution intersecting commerce, education, health care, and entertainment.
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Gov. Laura Kelly said the state’s comprehensive Broadband Equity Access and Deployment plan had been submitted to the federal government outlining an approach to grappling with unserved and underserved areas. Other administrative steps remain, but funding for infrastructure could start flowing in 2024.
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“We want to make sure we’re investing in the highest level of broadband that meets the needs not just for today,” Piros de Carvalho said on the Kansas Reflector podcast. “Businesses and households that don’t have that connection are really cut off from participating in the economy and our democracy. I mean, literally, everything in our lives today seems to be tied to broadband, right?”
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“By combining public and private efforts, we can maximize the impact of our investments and create a robust broadband infrastructure that supports economic growth and innovation for decades to come,” said Lt. Gov. David Toland, secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce.
- Piros de Carvalho said…this law enabled states to take a larger role in how money was invested. “We went all across the state, and heard from the lived experience of those, you know, living in the digital divide on what the gaps were in their community."
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