PSC To Hold Hearing On Loss Of $80M Internet Grant

A member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission has called on the Jindal administration and the Board of Regents to explain why the state lost an $80 million federal grant to expand broadband Internet connections. 

Commissioner Foster Campbell is asking representatives from the governor's Division of Administration and Regents for a public discussion on the issue at the PSC's Wednesday meeting. The commission has regulatory authority over certain areas of the broadband industry.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced it was pulling the grant last week, questioning whether Louisiana could accomplish its plan in the time allowed for spending the dollars.

The grant would have provided for 900 miles of fiber optic cable that would stretch broadband to 100,000 households and 15,000 businesses in poor and rural areas of Louisiana.