Community-serving organizations in the north-central region of Louisiana experience inconsistent and uneven access to high-speed Internet services, which has hampered their ability to deliver advanced healthcare, education, and public safety services to local residents, especially those in rural areas near the Kisatchie National Forest. To address these needs, Nexus Systems’ Louisiana “Piney Hills” Parishes Broadband Infrastructure Project proposes a hybrid fiber and microwave network between Alexandria and Vienna, Louisiana including the construction of 108 miles of new fiber and 90 miles of new microwave links, which will involve constructing one new microwave tower and upgrading 19 existing towers.

The new network intends to extend and interconnect with the $80.6M BTOP Round One broadband infrastructure project grant to the Louisiana Board of Regents by expanding fiber middle-mile services into an area where five of the seven parishes have been designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as “Persistent Poverty Parishes” in need of economic development and infrastructure investment.