KENTUCKY (WOWK) – More than 42,000 Kentucky homes and businesses will soon have high-speed internet for the first time.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, a record $368 million investment in 46 counties, including locally Boyd, Carter, Greenup, Lewis and Pike counties.

The funds are the result of a bipartisan agreement that allocated $300 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars to the Kentucky Broadband Development Fund. According to Beshear’s office, this will allow providers to run fiber to each location.

The governor’s office says of the locations receiving service, more than 25,000 are considered to have no service while more than 17,000 are considered “unserved.”

“High-speed internet is not a luxury anymore. It’s a necessity for work, school, health care and more, and every Kentuckian deserves access,” Beshear said. “During our first round of state funding, we made the largest investment in our history, and today we are breaking our own record with another historic milestone toward our promise to connect every home and business in the commonwealth to affordable, reliable high-speed internet.”

A full list of the awards available to each company for a specific county is available online through the governor’s office.