Kinetic by Windstream, a long-trusted community partner for high-speed internet, today announced a partnership with St. Johns County that will expand high-speed broadband service to almost 200 locations throughout the county.

Through the partnership with the county, Kinetic will enhance its network to deliver faster, highly reliable broadband connectivity to 192 homes and businesses.

“Public-private partnerships allow for creative solutions to bring the faster internet speeds that are critical to families in rural areas of Florida,” said Stacy Hale, president of state operations for Kinetic. “We are committed to keeping the communities we serve connected to what’s important.”

The broadband network expansion was made possible by the use of CARES Act funding awarded through the St. Johns County Board of Commissioners coupled with capital invested by Kinetic. Work has already begun, and the project is expected to be completed by fall 2021.

“As a county, we learned very early on that the reliability and expansion of the broadband infrastructure is a key to our future social and economic viability, and we moved quickly to help our residents cope with COVID-19 while still maintaining their ability to work and learn,” said Joy Andrews, Deputy County Administrator for St. Johns County. “We are excited that as a result of those efforts, Windstream and St. Johns County were able to team up and make some headway to expand broadband one community at a time.”

Sarah Hardin, Windstream vice president of state government affairs in Florida, noted that Windstream is actively seeking public-private partnerships across its 18-state footprint because deploying broadband networks in rural areas is often cost-prohibitive.

“We’re looking for partners in the public sector who are eager to help us close the digital divide,” Hardin said.

About Kinetic

Kinetic by Windstream is a business unit of Windstream Holdings, a privately held communications and software company. Kinetic provides premium broadband, entertainment and security services through an enhanced fiber network and 5G fixed wireless service to consumers and businesses primarily in rural areas in 18 states. The company also offers managed communications services, including SD-WAN and UCaaS, and high-capacity bandwidth and transport services to businesses across the U.S. Additional information is available at GoKinetic.com. Follow us on Twitter at @GoKineticHome.

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