Broadband internet access is coming to unserved parts of Lexington County.

 The $50 million project will give students remote access to learning their lessons.

It will also give adults the ability to use the internet and send and receive email.

This is paid in part with $50 million from federal corona virus aid that must be spent by the end of the year.

The SC Office of Regulatory Staff has approved 71 projects to expand broadband in 23 counties.

ORS will reimburse broadband companies 50% of the costs, ORS Director Nanette Edwards said.

The broadband projects will not close the state’s broadband access gap.

650,000 South Carolinians and 180,000 households lack high-speed internet access.

It could cost an estimated $800 million to connect the rest of the state.

ORS is creating a broadband map to determine what it would take to cover in the entire state.

“It’s really hard to give it a concrete number to say this is what it’s really going to cost to do a complete buildout of the state to every structure that’s capable of having internet,” Edwards said.