Rhode Island Commerce approved an increase in funding to Altman Solon, the consultant hired to help develop a state broadband infrastructure plan. The extra spending comes a week after Cox Communication sued the state over the maps used to develop the plan. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)
Rhode Island’s economic development agency is forging ahead with a $108 million high-speed internet program, despite a lawsuit from Cox Communications contesting the data used to develop the plan.
Rhode Island Commerce Corp. on Monday agreed to spend another $434,000 on its contract with international telecommunications firm Altman Solon LLP, according to Matt Touchette, a Commerce spokesperson. A copy of the agreement was not immediately available.
The company was hired in August 2023 for a $1.3 million, two-year contract to help Rhode Island meet requirements tied to various federal broadband expansion programs. That included $108 million awarded to the Ocean State through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The federal funding aims to bring high-speed internet to underserved communities in states nationwide.