Louisiana breaks ground on country's largest BEAD-funded broadband build

Governor Jeff Landry joined ConnectLA, REV Fiber and state and local leaders in Central, Louisiana, on Wednesday for a groundbreaking marking what officials called the largest BEAD-funded broadband build in the country to date. Delivered by REV Fiber, the project will bring reliable high-speed internet to 2,840 locations in East Baton Rouge Parish. (https://www.benton.org/headlines/gov-landry-joins-connectla-and-rev-fiber-celebrate-countrys-largest-bead-funded-broadband)

The project is supported through Louisiana’s GUMBO 2.0 — Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities — programme, and forms part of the state’s push to close its digital divide by 2028, if not sooner. Landry said unreliable internet had long hit everything from homework to emergency response, especially in rural areas. Construction begins in November and is expected to last seven to eight months; Landry said service could be in place by the end of 2027 if construction stays on schedule and is not disrupted by major storms. (https://www.louisianafirstnews.com/news/louisiana-news/rev-fiber-groundbreaking-central/ ; https://gray-wafb-prod.gtv-cdn.com/2026/10/07/state-races-get-everyone-connected-internet-by-2028/)

Louisiana was the first state to win federal approval of its final BEAD proposal, clearing the way for $1.36 billion in NTIA funding — the eighth-largest allocation in the country. Roughly 2,500 of the 2,840 locations are paid for with BEAD funding, with the remainder covered by REV, and 472 of the locations are in Central itself. Internet providers across Louisiana have received more than $442 million in provisional BEAD awards covering more than 127,000 locations. (https://www.louisianafirstnews.com/news/louisiana-news/rev-fiber-groundbreaking-central/ ; https://gray-wafb-prod.gtv-cdn.com/2026/10/07/state-races-get-everyone-connected-internet-by-2028/)