Poyen residents getting access to reliable broadband internet thanks to expansion, FCC funding

POYEN, Ark. – Reliable internet can be scarce in Poyen, but a recent expansion is aiming to change that.

“Here it’s in and out and if it goes down it can be down for a while,” Barbara Marvel said.

It has become an inconvenience for her and many others living in the area.

“I was working from home, so it definitely affected that,” said Marvel.

Windstream’s Kinetic Fiber Internet Gigabit Expansion is aiming to change that, servicing more than 2,000 locations in Grant County, using $8.2 million from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

“We are investing in our own private capital as well as partnering with the state of Arkansas, the state broadband office and the federal government,” Windstream Vice President of Government Affairs David Avery said.

Avery said this is about giving residents access to faster, affordable internet and he’s confident it’ll make a difference.

“The place that services internet here is not anywhere close to us,” Marvel said.

But now that construction has begun, Poyen residents will have a closer internet service provider, reliable for all who are eligible.

“The ability to go from very slow speed to now up to 1 gigabit, you know that’s a huge transformation,” Avery said.

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