Orange County approves amended Lumos broadband deal, keeps most but not all addresses in build

Sept. 16, 2025 — Orange County Commissioners voted Sept. 16 to approve an amendment to the county’s 2022 incentive agreement with broadband provider Lumos (now part of T‑Mobile), reducing the contract’s original build footprint but preserving the majority of the planned fiber connections.

The board approved a revised payment schedule that would pay Lumos $5,200,000 of the county’s $10 million American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) incentive if Lumos completes three defined build areas, a change county staff say would cover about 92% of the remaining contracted scope. Robert Reynolds, Orange County chief information officer, told commissioners the county originally contracted for service to 6,370 unserved or underserved addresses; to date Lumos has completed service to 5,187 locations.

Why it matters: County officials said the amendment is intended to protect federal ARPA funds while getting service to the largest number of homes possible after the company reported a multi‑million‑dollar budget overrun and said it could not finish the entire original scope.

“Lumos reported that the project was $20,000,000 over budget and could not move forward without additional funding,” Reynolds said during the presentation. Under the amendment, Lumos would receive three milestone…