LA Governor Edwards Joins SwyftFiber CEO Jason Hunt, State Lawmakers, and Parish Residents to kick off the GUMBO project
On Thursday, July 6th, Gov. John Bel Edwards in partnership with Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson, state Representative Daryl Deshotel, ConnectLA and SwyftFiber officially kicked off the largest GUMBO (phase 1) project in the state of Louisiana.
SwyftFiber’s CEO, Jason Hunt, remarked that “Louisiana has more than its share of ‘broadband deserts', where half the residents of an underserved community have little to no access to the internet. Our primary mission is to help bring the opportunity of reliable broadband to as many rural communities as possible.”
Through the Avoyelles Parish project, SwyftFiber will provide over 9,140 households and 535 small businesses in the parish with access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet. To date, this is the largest investment under the state’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) program.
"Avoyelles now joins a long list of parishes where similar projects are underway and people are receiving access to high speed and affordable internet,” said Governor Edwards. “Thanks to work by Veneeth Iyengar, director of ConnectLA, state legislators and community partners, Louisiana is leading the country in how quickly we are bringing broadband to every corner of our state.”
“In Louisiana, thousands of families lack access to a high-speed internet connection, or lack the means to use it. That’s about to change,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson. “Thanks to the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Louisiana will receive the federal funding it needs to bring affordable, reliable high-speed internet service to everyone in the state.”
Avoyelles is one of many parishes that SwyftFiber is committed to building fiber broadband networks over the next few years via the GUMBO program, including Allen, Catahoula, Concordia, Grant, Lasalle, Sabine, Vernon, and West Feliciana Parish. The company will also build out a fiber network in Covington County, MS, under a federal NTIA grant.
SwyftFiber provides fast and reliable internet and television streaming services to underserved communities in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi. For more information, contact David Blazier at dblazier@swyftfiber.com or visit our website at https://swyftfiber.com.
