AT&T Fiber internet will soon reach each home and business in Oldham County, officials say
A $33 million project with AT&T will soon bring high-speed fiber internet to over 20,000 households and businesses in Oldham County, local leaders announced Wednesday.
Officials expect the network to be completed within two years, with Oldham County contributing $8.5 million and AT&T chipping in $25.1 million to provide AT&T Fiber access to every home and business in the county northeast of Louisville.
That effort to bridge the "digital divide" has been a goal of Oldham County Judge-Executive David Voegele for several years, he said in a release.
"Fiber-optics are essential to delivering a long-term solution for businesses and residents of Oldham County, and AT&T's experience and ability to operate and maintain these complex networks is critical to developing economic and educational opportunities in the county," Voegele said in a statement Wednesday.
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Other officials from Oldham County and AT&T joined Voegele at the John W. Black Community Center in La Grange to celebrate the effort.
"We have a long history of connecting businesses and residents in Oldham County, and we're already hard at work planning this new expansion of our AT&T fiber network for the people of Oldham County," said Sonia Perez, president of AT&T Southeast States. "We are proud to work with the county and community leadership to deploy a fast and reliable network that can help build better futures for businesses and residents across the county."
AT&T said planning and engineering work is already underway, with the company expecting to start offering some fiber services in portions of Oldham County by 2023.
When completed, the expanded fiber network "will be the fastest among major providers and will offer symmetrical speeds of up to 5-Gigs on downloads and uploads," AT&T said in a news release.
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"The faster 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," AT&T said.
While Louisvillians also have access to AT&T Fiber, the presence of high-speed internet in Kentucky's largest city has resulted in some controversy over the years.
In 2019, Google Fiber suddenly announced it was pulling out of Louisville after experiencing several challenges, including a failed experiment burying fiber optic cable in much shallower trenches than it used in other cities.
AT&T noted it made fiber available in more than 30,000 new locations in Kentucky in 2021.
Find out when AT&T Fiber will be available in Oldham County
Moving forward, Oldham County residents can learn more about AT&T Fiber at att.com/fiber and keep tabs on when service will be available at their address by visiting att.com/notifyme.
Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Oldham County getting AT&T Fiber internet to homes, businesses by 2024