Santa Rosa doubles down on expanding broadband Internet to rural areas of county

Santa Rosa County's efforts to expand broadband to its most rural communities appeared to have gotten a couple of big boosts Monday as officials announced a $3.3 million state grant and a likely $1.5 million county appropriation for additional efforts.

Kyle Holley, the county's outreach and community liaison for grants and special projects, announced at the county's Board of Commissioner's Committee meeting that he'd learned just that morning the state had bumped by $3.3 million the $2.3 million obligation for fiber optic technology Gov. Ron DeSantis had come to Milton to announce in February.

Commissioner James Calkins' motion to appropriate $1.5 million as an incentive to attract private businesses interested in offering broadband service in the Northeast of the county will likely be passed without objection Thursday as a consent agenda item at the Commission's regular meeting.

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At a Monday morning meeting, Holley was light on specifics in describing the grant he said he had learned the county had received from the state. He told commissioners he needed time to review the governor's offer, and provided few new details when queried later in the day.

"Santa Rosa County’s effort has been centered around quality outreach to our rural areas, collecting speed test data, and cultivating grant applications that improve quality of life for our seniors, students and workforce," he said in an emailed statement. "We are thrilled to see our efforts working to procure the necessary funds to attract high speed internet to our disconnected residents. We are expecting more good news in the coming months regarding fiber to the home projects in Santa Rosa County’s low density areas."

DeSantis appeared in Milton in early February to announce $144 million in grant awards for rural broadband projects across the state of Florida. He stopped in Santa Rosa County to personally deliver a $2.3 million check.

Holley said that original efforts to extend broadband across Santa Rosa County had focused on the northwest region of the county, in areas like Chumuckla and Jay. Additional funding will help Internet companies to "extend further into the northern portion of the county," to outposts such as Brownsdale and New York, he said.

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He asked commissioners to appropriate $1.5 million to be used as an incentive to entice private companies to partner with the county to expand the broadband presence in Santa Rosa County. He said new efforts will focus on the underserved northeastern and southeastern regions of the county.

Holley said he envisions continued investment to extend Internet service to places that include East Gate Road and extend southeast of Whiting Field and up Munson Highway to State Highway 4 and all the way to McLellan. Residents there are "custodians of our forest community," Holley told the commission, and deserve to be linked in with broadband service.

Calkins, who often struggles to find support from his fellow commissioners, received no pushback to his motion.

Commission Chairman Colten Wright said spending taxpayer money to bring in private investment had proven successful for Santa Rosa County as it has worked to expand broadband.

"Santa Rosa County has taken a unique approach to broadband expansion," Wright said, noting the efforts of the county's "western" neighbor. "We've taken a much more strategic approach to try to get providers to step up to the plate, to look at opportunities. We knew there was low hanging fruit, and we let them go out on their own and incentivize instead of throwing taxpayer dollars at it. That's the reason it took a little longer, but I think it was a smarter way."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa to expand broadband internet to more rural areas of county