New ISP Halo Fiber Leveraging ARPA Grants to Help Bridge Alabama’s Digital Divide

A new provider named Halo Fiber is hoping to leverage hundreds of millions in recent Alabama middle mile broadband network grants to extend affordable fiber broadband to state residents long stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide.

The new provider says it’s not quite ready to reveal full launch details (including target markets, speeds, or pricing), but told the Institute For Local Self-Reliance it should enter its first four fiber markets later this year thanks in part to a flood of American Rescue Plan Act funding in the state.

“We will be releasing pricing and target markets early this summer in May or June,” Halo Co-founder and CEO Brian Snider told ILSR. “Speeds are still being finalized as well but they will be symmetrical from 250 up and down to multi gig options."

Halo says its primary focus will be to partner with public and private entities to build fast and affordable broadband networks, empower access to better education, telehealth, and economic opportunities, and ensure quality customer service in neglected markets.

“Ten years ago, myself and other members of the Halo team worked on an initiative that identified infrastructure gaps across the entire state,” Snider said in additional comments to BamaBuzz.

“We found that was a big gap in middle mile connectivity – especially in Alabama’s Black Belt where there was almost no high speed infrastructure,” he added.

Nearly a fifth of Alabama residents – or just over a million people – lack access to reliable high speed Internet.

Broadband access that does exist in many Alabama towns and cities has been monopolized by incumbent cable giants like Charter (Spectrum), which see very little incentive to compete on price, expand access, or improve substandard customer service.

The problem of spotty access is particularly pronounced in Alabama, where Federal Communications Commission data indicates that somewhere around 30 percent of residents lack any access to broadband whatsoever (though the FCC is notorious for over-stating real-world broadband availability and under-stating the broader lack of broadband competition).

“The Halo Fiber founding team brings over 150 years of broadband experience,” Snider says. “We understand the vital role a fiber-based broadband network plays in enhancing access to education, telehealth, and economic opportunities. Today’s accelerating demand for high bandwidth makes this the perfect time to act.”

Alabama has already invested over $324 million of federal ARPA funding on middle-mile infrastructure.

Of that, $264 million has been earmarked to deploy 5,000 miles of middle-mile infrastructure – reaching all 67 Alabama counties – as part of  the Alabama Fiber Network.

“[Halo Fiber] is solely focused on last-mile infrastructure; but we can’t do that without partnerships with the AFN and other groups building those middle-mile networks,” Snider noted. “Now is the perfect time to bridge that gap in Alabama’s Internet infrastructure. It will take time, but we’re chipping away at it one house at a time.”

Alabama’s $188 million in middle mile broadband network grants were made possible by federal Coronavirus relief legislation that both Alabama state Senators voted against. Alabama is also poised to receive more than $1.4 billion in additional federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grants, made possible by the 2021 Infrastructure bill – which both of the state’s Senators also voted against.

While Alabama has been successfully leveraging existing electric cooperatives to expand broadband access in some underserved rural counties, it is also one of 16 states that ban or restrict municipal broadband networks, usually at the behest of regional private telecom monopolies vying for state grants to expand their monopoly territories.

This article was published by the Community Broadband Networks Initiative of the Institute for Local Self Reliance on CommunityNets.org on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, and is republished with permission.

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