LSU AgCenter's DRDC Credited for Acquiring $80 Million Broadband Grant for Northeast Louisiana

Through the collaboration with the Louisiana Broadband Alliance, the LSU AgCenter's Delta Rural Development Center recently received credit for being one of the institutions who has contributed to the acquisition of an $80 million broadband grant to bring fiber optic to 21 parishes, primarily in northeast Louisiana. Read more.

"This is a great collaboration to be part of and we're glad the LSU AgCenter's Delta Rural Development Center could play a contributing role. We look forward to seeing how access to a high-tech backbone of fiber optic will bring about economic development opportunities in the Louisiana Delta area, "said Barnes, Associate Professor and Director of DRDC located in Oak Grove, LA.

The $80 million broadband grant will provide resources to lay fiber optic in some of the poorest areas of Louisiana, and the U.S. - the Louisiana Delta. The new network would connect to the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative (LONI), a more than 1,600 mile fiber-optic network that connects Louisiana and Mississippi research universities to National LambdaRail and Internet2.