Franklin County among leading Alabama counties with high-speed fiber connectivity percentage

Alabama has made significant progress in the past five years toward getting all households access to high-speed internet, but substantial work remains, particularly in the state’s highest-poverty counties.

A new report released by the University of Alabama’s Education Policy Center and Center for Business and Economic Partnership in partnership with AL.com, showed Alabama’s progress in high-speed internet expansion since 2018.

There are seven counties in the new report that fall under the ‘underserved’ category and seven more classified as ‘unserved.’

Good news for Franklin County—it is not among either classification. It is among the 53 of 67 Alabama counties meeting the definition of ‘served.’

Of the seven underserved counties, six are in Alabama’s Black Belt, the state’s highest-poverty area. Four of the seven unserved counties are Black Belt counties.

The statewide fiber network buildout is complete, meaning the infrastructure is complete for high-speed fiber-optic broadband internet to be accessible to all 67 counties. 

Where the lag exists is with the local build-outs in several counties. Some have no last-mile access for residents, while others have a limited percentage of residential access.

The statewide average shows 87% of homes having high-speed internet access, but that percentage drops significantly in the underserved counties, the report showed. 

The report defines ‘underserved’ and ‘unserved’ as counties with less than 50% household access to fiber-optic high speed broadband.

With Franklin County, efforts began 15 years ago with the formation of the Franklin County Broadband Task Force. That task force, created for former Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow, began efforts to find an internet provider willing to build the infrastructure into rural areas as part of ‘last-mile’ access. 

Unfortunately for Franklin County residents, larger providers including AT&T and Spectrum were unwilling to make that investment, choosing instead only to serve densely populated areas.

The Task Force brought public awareness to the county’s need for high-speed fiber-optic broadband, but ran into a wall when it came to a funding source to invest in that buildout.

As of October 2025, FreedomFiber has successfully created access to 96% of Franklin County homes, a remarkable achievement made possible through a team effort that included Franklin County federal, state and local elected officials, grant funding secured through the Franklin County Water Service Authority, which was tasked with the official authoriuty to pursue grants for a countywide buildout.

Alabama’s Broadband Initiative, created through the support of Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Legislature, provided nearly $150 million in critical funding for high-speed fiber-optic broadband buildout, as well as some federal grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect program.

The final financial piece came when the Franklin County Commission committed up to $5 million for broadband access buildout out of the county’s American Rescue Plan grant monies.

There would not be a way for those funds to be spent if not for the vision of former Freedom Fiber CEO Steve Foshee and the Board of Directors of Tombigbee Electric Cooperative to see Franklin County last-mile buildout through to completion.

The fiber-to-home buildout offering speeds up to 1,000 Mbps is substantially complete. The access is now there if rural residents are willing to pay for it. 

The benefits of this monumental task include the ability for Franklin County rural residents to work remotely from home, continue their education through online learning and access improved medical care through telehealth. And their children are now able to complete school work remotely. 

For a project that seemed a pipe dream just 10 years ago, the 4,200-mile fiber installation was cause for celebration for Freedom Fiber officials at a recent ceremony recognizing the milestone.