Governor Josh Shapiro Directs $90 Million for Northern Tier Rural Gigabit Broadband Expansion

TOWANDA, Pa. — Governor Josh Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) announced on Monday the distribution of $90 million in state and federal broadband capital grants from the Broadband Infrastructure Program to construct 2,200 miles of fiber-to-the-home broadband networks connecting 28,000 unserved rural households, family dairy farms, and emergency response stations across Pennsylvania's rural Northern Tier—including Bradford, Tioga, Potter, and Susquehanna Counties.

The grant awards, matched by $65 million in private telecommunications capital, provide symmetrical gigabit-speed internet access to rural mountain hollows where residents previously relied on slow, weather-prone satellite connections or copper landlines.

Bridging the Digital Divide for Rural Families and Family Farms High-speed fiber connectivity is vital for agricultural precision robotic milking systems, remote veterinary consultations, online higher education, and specialized rural tele-mental health services.

"No matter where you live in Pennsylvania—whether in downtown Philadelphia or on a family dairy farm in Bradford County—you deserve access to fast, affordable, and reliable high-speed internet," Governor Shapiro said at a community library in Towanda. "For too long, rural Pennsylvanians were told to wait while the digital economy passed them by. This $90 million investment lays thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable, connecting 28,000 rural families, expanding healthcare access, and giving our small businesses the tools they need to compete globally."

County-Level Fiber Infrastructure Deployments The $90 million package finances:

• 2,200 Miles of Fiber-to-the-Home: Underground and utility pole aerial fiber lines with guaranteed 1 Gbps symmetrical speeds.
• Northern Tier Rural Health Clinic Connections: Connecting 15 rural critical access clinics and community health centers to regional hospital networks.
• Low-Income Affordability Guarantees: Requiring participating internet service providers to offer low-cost $30/month broadband plans for eligible low-income families.

County commissioners, rural school board members, and farm bureau directors commended the state funding, noting that reliable fiber broadband stops youth outmigration and revitalizes rural business communities.