Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi and has more counties than any other state in US with the exception of Texas. It has large metropolitan areas, wide ranging mountains, and vast farmlands. It counts the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies and hosts a strong agricultural industry that is the state's largest economic engine.

Broadband technology is an enabler to economic growth for the future and the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) has assisted public and private sector stakeholders to expand facilities, increase adoption and prove information sharing and collaboration.

GTA has been involved in several programs to promote broadband between 2006 to the present. The Wireless Communities Georgia grant seed program resulted in eight Wi-Fi networks being deployed for city access for improving municipal services and citizen access. On an investment of $6M through these grants municipalities have invest an addition $3M in equipment and services to expand these networks.

The US Commerce Department made available $7.2B nationwide to states and territories for broadband expansion in our unserved and underserved areas through the Unites States. GTA assisted applicants for these grant funds and made recommendations for funding for impactful projects. The state received over $180M in grants and loans for several large broadband projects which are in several phase of completion.

GTA received a $5.2M grant from the US Commerce Department for state-wide broadband mapping. The goal is to partner with Georgia telecommunications carriers to collect broadband data on coverage and speeds across technology types to assess our unserved and underserved areas. The program creates maps, analysis, and tabular data twice a year. This data and information is used across our partner Domains of Excellence Areas which are: Education, Public Safety, Citizen Access, and Healthcare.