‘This work is about more than infrastructure — it’s about connecting people.’
Spectrum Broadband reached out to Marion County this month to expand its “Beyond the Build Tour,” designed to increase digital access in rural areas.
Spectrum’s Rural Construction Initiative in Florida has added hundreds of thousands of new customers with additional broadband access. The Marion County initiative added another 15,000 homes and businesses locally.
Spectrum built upon that moment with a community-focused event that highlighted the completion of local broadband infrastructure and demonstrated Spectrum’s investment in expanded connectivity throughout Florida.
Part of the Spectrum commitment included presenting an $18,000 check to Marion Senior Services. The donation is designed to advance programs that will keep Marion County seniors connected to broadband and engaged in increased access to technology.
“Because at the end of the day, this work is about more than infrastructure — it’s about connecting people,” said John Dosher, Area Vice President of Field Operations for Spectrum.
Increasing broadband access to rural areas has been a priority for Spectrum for much of the past year. This isn’t the first expansion of service in Marion County, either.
In June, Spectrum added about 35,000 new customers in Marion County. The company has been undergoing an internet infrastructure buildout in rural areas at a cost of about $7 billion. Some of the project’s funding is coming from the federal Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF).
It’s part of Spectrum’s larger effort to provide an additional 100,000 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure for internet access to more than 1.7 million locations across America.
Spectrum’s event this month in Marion County included support of the launch announcements from state Sen. Stan McLain and Marion County Commissioner Craig Curry.
The new center in Marion County included a Smart Device Training Workshop for Seniors. It highlighted the company’s efforts to ensure residents know how to use the increasing technology now available to them.
