Page 45 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2023

REGIONAL & MEMBERS UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

AT&T to Deliver Broadband Access to Lawrence County, IN

Lawrence County, Indiana, announced a project with AT&T* to extensive experience deploying fiber-optics across Indiana. In fact,
expand AT&T Fiber to more than 2,300 customer locations. In more than 540,000 locations in the state have access to AT&T
Northwest Lawrence County, AT&T has been selected to build Fiber today. Residents and businesses can learn more about AT&T
AT&T Fiber to more than 2,300 customer locations in a project Fiber at att.com/fiber and can sign up to be notified when service
valued at $3.6M. This is in addition to the 700 locations planned will be available at their address at att.com/notifyme. AT&T is
as part of the State’s Next Level Connections broadband grant working to roll out AT&T Fiber through public-private partnerships
program. “This is a great step forward in continuing to improve in communities across the country and to further close the digital
the quality of life for residents, business owners, first responders divide by encouraging adoption and offering affordable internet
and visitors in our community,” said Rodney Fish, commissioner, solutions. AT&T is committed to connecting more Americans to
Lawrence County. “Fast connectivity like this is crucial to our reliable, high-speed broadband internet in several ways, including
day-to-day activities, and we’re excited that AT&T was willing to expanding and upgrading our network and participating in the
collaborate with us to bring more high-speed broadband here.” federal Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP provides
“Having access to AT&T Fiber will make a huge difference in eligible households with a benefit of up to $30 a month (up to $75 a
everything we do,” said Shance Sizemore, CEO, Lawrence County month on qualifying Tribal lands) to reduce the cost of broadband
Economic Growth Council. “Whether it’s entrepreneurs looking to service and can be applied to AT&T Fiber, where available. Or use
start a business, employees needing great connectivity to work it toward Access from AT&T, offering speeds up to 100Mbps for
from home or teachers communicating with their colleagues and $0 after the ACP benefit is applied. After confirming ACP eligibility,
parents, this project is a welcome boost to Lawrence County.” those who qualify can go to att.com/getacp or call us at 866-986-
Lawrence County will invest $1.1M, and AT&T will invest $2.5M in 0963 to sign up for service. Have your ACP application ID handy.
the project to provide fiber to Northwest Lawrence County. Plans
call for residents and businesses to have access to superfast
internet – delivering up to 5-Gig speeds1 with symmetrical upload
and download speeds. Consistently fast speeds and increased
bandwidth mean customers can connect multiple devices,
stream multiple entertainment sources, quickly upload content
to social media and experience ultra-low lag for pro-level gaming
– all at the same time. Extensive planning and engineering work
for this project will begin immediately. The network buildout is
expected to be complete in 24 months. “Our purpose is to create
connection – a connection to friends, family, work, education,
health, entertainment and more,” said Bill Soards, president, AT&T
Indiana. “Through public-private collaborations like this one with
Lawrence County, we’re able to act on that purpose, while also
helping bridge the digital divide in the community. We’re thrilled
to be bringing AT&T Fiber here soon, and all of the connectivity
benefits that come along with high-speed broadband.” AT&T has

AT&T and Public Library Association Collaborate to Increase Awareness and
Adoption of Federal Broadband Benefits

AT&T and the Public Library Association (PLA) have launched of eligible of households, have signed up for ACP to receive up to
a free self-paced online course to educate parents, caregivers $30/mo. off their internet or wireless service, or up to $75/mo. if
and families about the federal broadband benefits available living on qualifying Tribal lands. According to research done by the
to qualifying households for discounted internet service from Benton Institute, households located in communities with a public
participating providers. To help bridge the digital divide, AT&T and library enroll in ACP at a higher rate than communities that do not.
PLA collaborated to develop the easily accessible and relatable That’s why AT&T and PLA are also working together to bring in-
course that provides an in-depth overview of the Affordable person ACP workshops to public libraries. With support from AT&T,
Connectivity Program (ACP), documents needed to apply, the public libraries across the country now have access to workshop
process of applying, and how to use the benefit, if eligible. The materials through DigitalLearn, as well as incentives for libraries to
National Telecommunications and Information Administration host ACP and other digital literacy workshops. The online course is
(NTIA) found that one reason why one-fifth of U.S. households are available now through AT&T ScreenReady and PLA’s DigitalLearn
not online is because of concerns about cost and affordability. in English and Spanish. With support from AT&T, 50 libraries will
Yet only 17 million households, representing an estimated 35% be selected by PLA to provide in-person ACP workshops in the

45 MAY-JUNE 2023