Socket Telecom, based in Columbia, will receive $442,395 to construct a fiber optic network that will serve 176 households southwest of Ashland, the Department of Economic Development said. Socket also received a $129,086 grant to expand fiber-based services to 240 households in the south-central part of Fayette in Howard County.
AirLink Rural Broadband is the recipient of $578,783 to construct a fiber network that will serve 400 households in Glasgow.
In each instance, the new service will offer broadband at minimal speeds of 1 Gigabit per second for downloads and 100 Megabit per second for uploads.
The grants are funded with federal money made available under the CARES Act passed in March. Grants announced Tuesday commit $1.8 million of the $20 million allocated for the emergency program.
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