BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. — Kentucky's 10th largest county wants to fully expand fiber internet access to its nearly 84,000 residents.
Their latest project, announced on Monday, pinpointed 6,300 homes for their own private fiber line. Kinetic by Windstream, a rural internet service provider, partnered with the county.
It's part of a greater push by Bullitt County Fiscal Court to expand the infrastructure.
The court's Chief Financial Officer, Keith Griffee, switched to Kinetic last month.
"We're moving in a direction to get the things that we need to have for the infrastructure to keep up with the growth that we have," he said. "This is a wonderful step in that direction."
The new fiber lines offer much higher speeds — up to eight times faster than what most people in Bullitt County can purchase. According to the Federal Communications Commission, just under 30% of homes there have access to gigabit fiber. That 30% is concentrated in Hillview, Mount Washington and Shepherdsville.
Unincorporated communities nearby like Cedar Grove, Solitude and Brownington lack the speeds more concentrated areas have. They'll see most of the project's benefits.
Around $6.8 million dollars are set aside for the project; $2 million comes from the county, and Kinetic will cover the remaining $4.8 million dollars with their own investment funds.
The company also provided Bullitt County Public Library with a computer literacy program for residents.
"We often have people coming in for workforce development, but they lack the basic computer skills to access the forms they need for social services and any kind of job search," Library Director Tara O'Hagan said.
It can be accessed either in-person at the library or online.
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