The New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) says it has been awarded a $5.58 million federal broadband grant to help expand affordable fiber access to the rural and underserved parts of its service territory in The Granite State.
According to a cooperative announcement, NHEC officials say the New Hampshire Office of Broadband Initiatives has awarded it a $5.58 million grant courtesy of the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, made possible by the 2021 infrastructure bill.
New Hampshire was originally allocated $196.5 million from the BEAD program (which included non-deployment funds), but the federal allocation was later adjusted to $18.6 million after significant unpopular changes by the Trump administration that eliminated affordability requirements and shifted a significant amount of funds from fiber to Elon Musk’s low-earth-orbit satellite venture. (NTIA has not yet released guidance on BEAD non-deployment funds).
NHEC’s $5.58 million chunk of BEAD funding will be used to bring 126 miles of new fiber to 2,500 homes and businesses across 23 rural communities, including Bath, Benton, Clarksville, Colebrook, Danbury, Dixville, Goshen, Grafton, Groton, Haverhill, Hill, Holderness, Lyman, Moultonborough, New Hampton, Orange, Orford, Piermont, Springfield, Thornton, Tuftonboro, Warren, and Wentworth.
Service will be provided via NHEC’s NH Broadband subsidiary, which provides locals three fiber tiers at speeds and pricing significantly better than any local private telecom operator: a symmetrical 100 megabit per second (Mbps) option for $35 a month; a symmetrical 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) option for $65 a month; and a symmetrical 2 Gbps option for $85 a month.
Those prices are a 36-month promotional discount, after which prices for all three tiers increase by $15 a month. NHEC’s fiber tiers do not come with caps, contracts, or hidden fees.
“We’re pleased the state of New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, Governor Ayotte, and the Executive Council reaffirmed their confidence in our ability to deliver state-of-the-art fiber internet to unserved and underserved areas of New Hampshire,” NHEC CEO Michael Jennings said of the award. “NH Broadband has been proud to partner with the state to help bring this critical need to those who need it and we look forward to continuing that partnership.”
Like many U.S. cooperatives, NHEC leveraged its history of rural electrification to get into the residential and commercial fiber broadband business. Since it began its fiber expansion in 2020, the cooperative has brought 2,500 miles of fiber to over 40,000 households across nearly 100 towns, all of which were previously stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide.
“This is the sixth broadband grant NHEC has secured pursuant to the Board of Directors’ commitment to extend high-speed fiber internet to our members in a fiscally prudent manner,” NHEC Board Chair Bill Darcy said of the cooperative’s latest expansion. "We will continue to apply for grants and invest in broadband infrastructure when it serves the best interests of our members and the community.”
