As Kentucky aims to connect every home to high speed internet, Oldham County comes first

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Every home and business in Oldham County now has access to fiber-optic, high speed internet. It is the first county in Kentucky to complete connection and bridge the digital divide.

Oldham County officials and AT&T announced the completion Tuesday of the $33 million project to expand broadband access in the area.

The public-private partnership will give 20,000 new customer locations access to high-speed internet, and Oldham County officials said the project will elevate the entire community.

"High-speed broadband is a game-changer for both individuals and the entire community," Oldham County Judge-Executive David Voegele said Tuesday. "This puts Oldham County at the top of our game and puts our people ahead of virtually everyone else in this state."

"We need it," said Erin LaCroix, the owner of LaCroix Training Center in La Grange. "Definitely need it."

Just off of Old Sligo Road, LaCroix and her husband train and rehabilitate thoroughbred horses at their working horse farm. They've been in Oldham County since 1997, when internet access was hard to come by off the beaten path.

"It wasn't good," LaCroix said. "Very slow."

The LaCroixs spent decades running a business and a handful of employees with bad internet. They changed providers at least three times looking for a more reliable option.

"We watch a lot of videos of racehorses, and if it's taking a long time to upload, it's useless," she said. "Plus, you know, if you need to be emailing, you need to have stuff that's moving."

Finally, after the pandemic, amid a statewide push to expand high-speed internet in rural areas, fiber-optic cable was installed by Spectrum.

LaCroix Training Center's connection to nature and the internet are now parallel.

"That has made a world of difference," she said. "Just faster. You don't have to sit there and wait."

But Oldham County is only the first county in the entire state to boast their full connection. The state's broadband map indicates thousands of Kentuckians remain underserved or completely unserved.

However, Last September, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced a $386 million investment in high-speed internet expected to bring service to more than 42,600 homes and businesses. According to a news release from Beshear's office, more than 25,00 locations are considered to have no service, and more than 17,000 spots are considered unserved.

The state's project is expected to expand access in 46 counties including Bullitt, Nelson, Henry and Shelby counties.

It's also part of a nationwide initiative called the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD), which delivered $1.1 billion federal dollars to Kentucky for high-speed internet access to every Kentuckian.

In a statement to WDRB News, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear's administration boasted the efforts to connect every corner of the commonwealth:

Gov. Beshear knows that high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity for work, school, health care, and more, and every Kentuckian deserves access. Since taking office, the Governor has secured more than $2 billion in federal, state and private funds to connect every home and business in the commonwealth. These include the largest public investments in high-speed internet in state history.

In June 2022, Gov. Beshear awarded Charter Communications more than $49 million to connect 18,553 households and businesses in 13 counties, including more than 440 locations in Oldham County.

Gov. Beshear has continued to prioritize high-speed internet expansion in his second term. In May, he joined leaders at Charter Communications as they brought high-speed internet service to Berry, Ky., for the first time, marking the company’s 10,000th local community served. In March, he announced the first high-speed internet investment of his second term: $20.4 million which will connect 2,353 homes and business in Henderson County and 1,221 homes and businesses in Daviess County. The state awarded more than $10.2 million to electric cooperative Kenergy to complete the work, and the company is providing $10.2 million in matching funds.

While Oldham Countians are grateful and proud to be the first to say every home and business has access, officials around the state are hopeful that others' connections are around the corner.

"This puts Oldham County at the top of our game, and puts our people ahead of virtually everyone else in this state," said Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele.

Related stories: