Butler County Delays $10 Million Broadband Build to 2028 as 10,000 Residents Remain Unserved
Updated
Updated · Hamilton Journal News · Aug 13
Butler County Delays $10 Million Broadband Build to 2028 as 10,000 Residents Remain Unserved
1 articles · Updated · Hamilton Journal News · Aug 13
Summary
March 2028 is the new target for Butler County’s countywide broadband rollout, more than two years later than planned and leaving about 10,000 potential customers still without high-speed internet.
Permitting holdups with AES, Duke Energy and other utilities have slowed altafiber’s use of power lines for the network backbone, county administrator Judi Boyko said.
39,000 households have been connected so far out of roughly 56,000 planned single-family and multi-family units, with Oxford, Oxford Township and nearby northwestern areas still waiting.
About $4.5 million remains on the $10 million ARPA-backed contract, but federal rules require the money to be spent by Dec. 31, forcing commissioners to weigh prepaying altafiber or shifting ARPA funds elsewhere and finishing the job with general-fund money.
Altafiber said it has already invested nearly $50 million in supporting infrastructure and remains committed to completing the remaining addresses, while county officials seek contract changes that keep the hardest-to-reach households from being left for last.