Despite funding uncertainty, key St. Mary broadband project nears completion

A key federal program funding the expansion of broadband internet in St. Mary Parish is being held up for review after comments by the secretary of commerce.
Secretary Howard Lutnick, a long-time critic of the $42 billion federal Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment program known as BEAD, blamed the Biden administration for “woke mandates, favoritism towards certain technologies, and burdensome regulations” for the program’s lack of results.
But Cajun Broadband owner Chris Disher, a Morgan City native, says the uncertainty surrounding federal funding for increased internet access isn’t affecting one of the areas most in need in his home parish.
That’s the Sorrel area, where 550 homes and businesses would have access to broadband internet when that project is complete, expected to be July 15.
“That whole end of the parish doesn’t have good internet,” Disher said Monday.
The project was funded through GUMBO 1.0 in July 2022. The total project cost is $888,000, funded with the GUMBO grant, a 25% match from Cajun Broadband and a 10% match by the parish government.
That project involves about 4 miles of underground fiber.
Another GUMBO 1.0 grant will lead to installation of 3.4 miles of fiber to serve an area along the Bayou Teche east of Baldwin. That will offer service to about 150 homes and businesses.
The project cost there is $425,000, of which Cajun Broadband is paying $106,000. The estimated completion date is Nov. 15.
The biggest Cajun Broadband project in St. Mary is to be funded by the GUMBO 2.0 BEAD program, the program in doubt after comments by Lutnick.
Disher said he’s heard more positive indications recently. The project is under federal review and “expected to proceed without delay,” he said.
Cajun Broadband’s West St. Mary project involves installing about 62 miles of fiber in the Cypremort Point-Four Corners-Glencoe area, offering service to 1,500 homes and businesses.
It would be funded by $6.5 million under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment initiative. Cajun Broadband’s match is $1.63 million.
“As a Morgan City High School graduate (Class of 1988), I take great pride in helping my home parish and its residents gain access to critically needed high speed broadband,” Disher said in an email. “These investments represent a transformative upgrade to our region’s connectivity and economic opportunity.”
In all, Cajun Broadband secured $57.6 million in grants for 572 miles of fiber optic infrastructure serving 11,750 homes and businesses in St. Mary, Iberia, Vermilion, Assumption, St. Martin and Jefferson Davis parishes.