Broadband project key to eastern Kentucky economy

SOMERSET, Ky. (AP) — State officials say a forthcoming $200 million project to lay 3,000 miles of fiber-optic cables across the state will be key to transforming eastern Kentucky’s economy.

On Wednesday, about 50 eastern Kentucky leaders toured five businesses that are along Interstate 75 and that depend on the type of high-speed Internet access most of the region doesn’t have because of its mountainous terrain and scattered population.

The broadband project is a key piece of the Shaping Our Appalachian Region, the joint project of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers to lead eastern Kentucky out from under its dependence on the declining coal industry. The project’s first phase will focus on eastern Kentucky.

Rogers said Wednesday an announcement awarding the contract is imminent.

©2014 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.