Broadband internet to expand to rural Osceola thanks to state grant

  • Areas where the state grant will help provide better broadband service. PHOTO/OSCEOLA COUNTY
    Areas where the state grant will help provide better broadband service. PHOTO/OSCEOLA COUNTY

If you live in one of Osceola County’s more rural areas, and you’ve had to get creative when it comes to internet or broadband access — you’re in luck.

Expanded access to connectivity is coming to areas like Southport, Deer Park, Bull Creek, Kenansville, Yeehaw Junction and other places along Canoe Creek Road and U.S. Highway 441, thanks to the an award from the Broadband Opportunity Grant Program announced this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A total of 58 projects valued at more than $144 million, across 41 Florida counties, are included. Osceola County has reported that, locally, match from Charter Communications will make for $15 million worth of projects in the county, the sixth-largest by land size in the state.

District 5 County Commissioner Ricky Booth lives in one of the areas that will be served along Canoe Creek.

“This is going to revolutionize communication for the residents of District 5. This investment is going to open up the information superhighway to so many Osceola residents and create new opportunities with access to jobs and educational advancement,” he said. “That’s what is significant– the realization that in this day and age, it’s vital for families and businesses to be connected to technology, no matter where they live. When you live rurally you understand the challenges of internet connections. I’m glad we’ll have this solution.”

Two of the projects alone represent a $7.6 million infrastructure investment — $3.6 million will be spent in Deer Park and Bull Creek on 135.4 miles of new fiber optic cable to serve over 1,000 residents with download speeds of 300 megabits per second and upload speeds of 10 MBPS — every bit as fast as most urban areas already served by fiber optic cable. Just over $4 million will be spent in Yeehaw Junction and Kenansville to serve about 800 residents.

Statewide, the broadband internet expansion will upgrade about 160,000 residential, educational, business, and community locations through the Office of Broadband (www. floridajobs.org/broadband), DeSantis said.