Infrastructure in Iberia Parish has been a hot topic for years, and a mix of federal, state and local dollars are now being poured into high-speed internet access in the parish. 

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Thursday morning with Parish President Larry Richard and members of Cajun Broadband in what is being seen as the second phase of a larger project to bring fiber broadband to the parish. 

The company originally worked with the parish government using Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) funds to bring fiber broadband to the Coteau area of Iberia Parish, a project that is now completed. 

“We did a project two or three years ago, the first project with Cajun Broadband that allowed them to bring fiber to the entire Coteau area on both sides of Highway 90,” Richard said. 

Working with the Iberia Parish Council and ARPA funds, Richard said the next step of the project is to continue to run fiber in Iberia Parish. The plan is to run fiber along U.S. 90 and eventually cover the Port of Iberia, Progress Park and the upcoming First Solar site that is expected to bring in a large amount of money and jobs to Iberia Parish. 

“That’s going to be a big deal,” Richard said. “It’s going to run on Highway 90 and catch all those businesses at the Port of Iberia, it’s going to catch residences down Avery Island Road and similar roads. The goal is to get the businesses you have to not have any interference in their communications.”

Chief Administrative Officer for Iberia Parish Beau Belanger added that the fiber option will be just as important for many residences in those areas. 

“The businesses are important but there are so many people who work from now too,” Belanger said. 

Working with Cajun Broadband, Richard said one of the focuses was to look at current and future sites for businesses and ensure that high-speed internet will be available for those current and future tenants. 

“We already have water and sewer in these locations, we’re just trying to tie it all in,” he said. 

With the recent announcement from Gov. Jeff Landry that “GUMBO II,” a $1.5 billion dollar investment to expand broadband across the state, is incoming, Richard said he hopes the entire parish will have a fiber option within the next four years.