ACADEMIA
Louisiana Optical Network Initiative Kicks off Broadband Technology Opportunities Program Project
The State Office of Facility Planning, on behalf of the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, or LONI, is now securing engineering services in the first phase of an $80.5 million federally funded project to expand broadband Internet capabilities in the state.
In March 2010, the Louisiana Broadband Alliance, which is a collaboration LONI leads through the Louisiana Board of Regents that includes the Department of Education, Department of Health and Hospitals, Louisiana Educational Television Authority, Louisiana Geographic Information Center, and LSU Agricultural Center’s Delta Rural Development Center, received funding as part of the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the federal stimulus package), for a project under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.
Through this project, the Louisiana Broadband Alliance will install nearly 1,000 miles of fiber-optic network lines in rural and under-served area of the state.
“Through our Broadband Technology Opportunities Program project, we will increase broadband-based services in some of the neediest areas of our state, which until now have not had access to such resources,” said Donald Vandal, LONI Executive Director. “By providing more residents and businesses the opportunity for access to high-speed broadband services, we are giving them opportunities to spur economic development and job growth in their region.”
Louisiana Broadband Alliance is targeting 21 parishes, including 12 in the Delta region of Northeast Louisiana, along with four other parishes that encompass Louisiana’s federally recognized American Indian tribes, for this program. The parishes that will be served are Allen, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jefferson Davis, LaSalle, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Richland, Tensas, West Carroll and West Baton Rouge.
Engineering services, the first part of the project, will consist of an environmental assessment and fiber infrastructure design. This phase is a prerequisite to the solicitation for actual construction of the fiber optic lines across Louisiana, which should begin in early 2011.
The final project is expected to be complete, with broadband access in place for the targeted areas, no later than March 2013.
To keep up with the Louisiana Broadband Alliance’s progress, please visit http://www2.ntia.doc.gov/grantees/LouisianaBroadbandAlliance
For more information on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, please visit www2.ntia.doc.gov.