PEABODY — The city was one of 32 municipalities across the state to land a grant to upgrade and expand its municipal fiber network, Mayor Ted Bettencourt’s office announced this week.

The $200,000 grant will be used to “further connect municipal-owned facilities, enhance cyber security, and expand the capability of residents and business owners to interact with government online,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Bettencourt called broadband essential infrastructure in the 21st century.

“A fiber network is a critical resource for local government, which enables us to better deliver the outstanding municipal services that taxpayers expect,” Bettencourt said in the statement.

Peabody already has a “robust municipal fiber infrastructure” in place, Bettencourt said, citing the agreement that brought a second cable-TV and internet provider to the city in 2019.

“Rather than starting from scratch, the city can utilize the grant funds to strengthen and expand the existing network, saving tens of thousands of dollars in new equipment and labor costs,” the statement said.

The grant will be used specifically for the construction of a closed fiber network, according to the state.

The city landed the funds as part of the Healey administration’s Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant program, a competitive program that awarded a total of $4 million to communities statewide to aid in the construction or completion of their municipal fiber networks.

Giving communities the funds to upgrade their fiber networks will allow them to centralize management of IT infrastructure, including “an enterprise approach to network monitoring, cybersecurity, records management, and backup and recovery,” according to a statement posted on the grant program’s website.

“A cohesive municipal network also creates opportunities to gain economies of scale by aggregating internet-bandwidth purchases and the associated security infrastructure,” the statement said.