Town of Easton Earmarks $3.5 Million For Fiber-To-The-Home

Mayor Willey and the Town Council awarded $3.5 million from their second round of American Rescue Plan Act funds to Easton Utilities for broadband improvement projects in Easton. “It is imperative for the residents and businesses in the Town of Easton to have access to state-of-the-art internet service” said Town of Easton Mayor Robert C. Willey.

The funds will be used for the ongoing internet infrastructure upgrade in Easton which will provide the ability for Fiber-To-The-Premise connections. The entire project has an estimated cost of $15 million. The initial construction cost is approximately $5 million and is expected to take about five years, followed by the final connections on each customer property, which will cost $10 million over multiple years. “Investing grant funds in broadband infrastructure is a great way spread the benefit across the community,” said Hugh E. Grunden, President and CEO of Easton Utilities.

Easton Utilities started planning to offer gigabit symmetric service to their existing internet customers about five years ago and completed the first phase of the upgrade in October 2020. This project spanned about two years costing approximately $10 million.

“Investing in this project will advance opportunities for all households in the Town of Easton to access the best quality internet service available today,” stated Megan M. Cook, Town of Easton Council President.

The $3.5 million will be combined with the $1.5 million from the first round of ARPA funds which the Town of Easton awarded to Easton Utilities in October 2021. Councilmember Al Silverstein said, “As a Member of the Easton Town Council, I was pleased to vote to award $3.5 million of this year’s ARPA funds to Easton Utilities allowing them to provide the fastest high-speed internet service to their customers while keeping the cost of this service as affordable as possible.”

Easton Utilities is a community-owned, not-for-profit utility and telecommunications company operating the Electric, Natural Gas, Water, Wastewater, Cable Television, and Internet services for the Town of Easton and portions of the surrounding area. Visit eastonutilities.com for more information.