By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Expanding broadband access across Kansas is just one of the many goals the Kansas Department of Commerce wants to accomplish with federal dollars related to COVID-19 relief.
"It's a very complicated task to get the fiber in the ground, make sure we've got the equipment on both ends of that fiber to ensure connectivity and that involves not just the Department of Commerce, but Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, which is part of our committee that is going to be reviewing these grant applications, along with higher ed and the K-12 system," said Commerce Secretary David Toland. "We've got the state Department of Education and the Board of Regents engaged on this and then of course, most importantly, what we're talking about are our local partners at the city and county level and hospitals, libraries, senior centers and then of course, the Internet Service Providers themselves."
The challenges presented by the expansion of remote work and remote education have brought this issue to the front burner, even though it's been around for awhile.
"It takes all of us working together in a coordinated fashion to make a dent in what has been a pretty daunting challenge for the state...how do we expand broadband access?" Toland said. "Right now, we have an opportunity to probably do ten years of work in a matter of months, but, while it is an opportunity, it's also a tremendous logistical challenge to make this all happen on such a short time frame."
The State Finance Council approved $60 million in grants on the topic earlier this month.