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Windstream outlines federal broadband grant opportunities for Bradford County
Summary
Windstream representative Sarah Harden told the Bradford County Commission that federal programs including RDOF and the $42 billion BEAD program could bring fiber-to-the-home to unserved areas of the county; the company requested local letters of support and offered to share maps showing proposed build areas.
Sarah Harden, vice president of state government affairs for Windstream, told the Bradford County Board of County Commissioners on April 17 that Windstream has won portions of federal funding and plans further applications to expand fiber service in the county.
Harden said Windstream is building fiber-to-the-home under the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) awards won in 2020 and expects construction for those areas to be completed by the end of 2028. She said the larger federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program — a roughly $42 billion federal program with $1.1 billion allocated to Florida — will be distributed by Florida’s Office of Broadband and that providers including Windstream will apply for those funds.
The county’s eligibility for federal BEAD funding will depend on the Office of Broadband’s determination of locations that lack access to required speeds, Harden said. She offered to provide commissioners and county staff maps showing which addresses Windstream believes are eligible and said Windstream would welcome local letters of support when it files grant applications.
Harden explained that federal programs prioritize fiber and called fiber “future proof,” saying the technology’s long-term upgrade path usually requires swapping electronics rather than replacing buried infrastructure. She also said that if another provider reports service to the Federal Communications Commission for specific locations, those homes may be marked as “served” and therefore ineligible for federal grant funds, though a provider building nearby may still choose to serve them commercially.
County commissioners and residents asked for maps showing specific communities such as Brooker and Hampton Lake. Harden said she would send maps to county staff and work with Windstream’s grant team to flag county-priority areas.
The presentation included invitations to follow up: Harden provided contact details to county staff and said Windstream’s headquarters team prepares the formal grant applications and will include community support when requested.
