MOORE HAVEN, Fla., June 19, 2023 – Glades Electric Cooperative announced it has secured $5,000,000 in funding through Florida's Broadband Opportunity Program to enhance broadband internet access for underserved communities in Florida. This funding is in addition to an initial Broadband Opportunity Program award of $5,000,000 announced by the co-op in February, bringing its total awards to $10,000,000.
Glades Electric is partnering with leading rural internet service provider Conexon Connect to launch and deploy a nearly 2,600-mile fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network with the goal of providing fiber broadband access to all of its approximately 13,600 members.
The current award will fund the construction of 795 miles of the fiber network to serve 1,195 unserved locations within Highlands and Okeechobee Counties with symmetrical (same upload and download speeds) capabilities of up to 2 gigabits per second. It will encompass the communities of Lorida and the Lake Josephine area in Highlands County, as well as Basinger, Viking Estates, and Okeechobee in Okeechobee County.
Glades Electric’s nearly $50 million network is expected to be completed within three years. The Connect, powered by Glades Electric Cooperative, network – with its symmetrical multi-gigabit internet capabilities – will deliver a world-class, future-proof solution to those living and working in Glades territory.
Glades Electric Cooperative is committed to closing the digital divide and improving the quality of life for rural Floridians. With the support of the Broadband Opportunity Program, this transformative project will foster economic growth, educational opportunities, and enhanced connectivity in its communities for years to come.
About Glades Electric Cooperative
Glades Electric Cooperative was formed in 1945 to serve residents of Florida’s rural heartland who had been left behind in the electrification of Florida. Today, Glades Electric provides power to more than 17,000 accounts over 2,600 miles of line in portions of Glades, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties.
About Conexon Connect
Conexon Connect is the internet service provider (ISP) arm of rural fiber broadband design and construction management leader Conexon. The subsidiary was formed to operate and manage cooperative fiber-to-the-home networks. Connect leverages Conexon’s decades of co-op operations, fiber-optic design and construction, telecommunications, federal and state lobbying and customer experience management expertise to successfully launch and operate projects. The Connect approach is to work with electric cooperatives to launch and deploy high-speed fiber-optic networks – the gold standard of communications transmission – enabling them to offer world-class fiber broadband to their members. Connect today is partnering with multiple cooperatives in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri.
About Conexon
Conexon works with Rural Electric Cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities. The company is comprised of professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry and offer decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers its electric cooperative clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, from a project’s conception all the way through to its long-term sustainability. It works with clients to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, design the network, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine optimal partnerships. To date, Conexon has assisted more than 275 electric cooperatives, 75 of which are deploying fiber networks, with more than 500,000 rural Americans connected to fiber to the home. The company has secured more than$2 billion in federal, state and local grants and subsidies for its clients.