Broadband meeting garners interest
“Yes!” seems to be the unanimous answer from Franklin County citizens when asked if they would like affordable, high-speed broadband Internet that reaches everyone in the county. At least, that was the consensus at the Broadband Meeting Oct. 26 held in Phil Campbell High School’s gym.
State Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow moderated the meeting at which Steve Foshee, president and CEO of Tombigbee Electric, addressed the crowd about what his company is doing with freedomFiber. According to Foshee, the fiber optic connection Tombigbee Electric is working on provides a way for communities to improve education, gain access to solid healthcare and improve their quality of life.
“Think of it like an interstate that could connect you with the world,” Foshee said.
That connection is already in the works in Hamilton and Winfield, and Foshee said as of right now they are under budget on these projects.
The main question most people had in mind at the meeting was “When?” When could freedomFiber get up and running in Franklin County?
Well, there is no definite answer for that right now.
“This meeting is to get the conversation started and get interest flowing about the project,” Morrow explained.
And while most would probably agree with Charles Canida from Russellville Electric that all “deserve Internet access,” the cost to get there with freedomFiber is in the millions. Foshee estimated that about $30 million would be needed to install the fiber, build the connections and get everything operational.
“We have to work a business model out to figure this out for sure, but it takes a collaborative effort to help control the cost of projects like these,” Foshee said.
Even though part of Tombigbee Electric’s revenue is from current customers, Foshee said a lot of the company’s funding for broadband projects comes from grants right now, and they are still in the process of applying for more.
Katernia Cole-Coffey, head of the Franklin County Broadband Taskforce, said they have spoken with network providers in the area, and they are unwilling to work with these broadband efforts.
“They all said no when it came to working with customers at the end of the line,” she said.
End-of-the-line customers are those who live far out in rural areas of the county, where there are maybe two houses on one stretch of road, and it’s hard to get reliable Internet access. But Foshee said with freedomFiber, even people at the end of the line would get affordable, reliable service.
Morrow appointed another taskforce at the meeting for dealing specifically with working with Tombigbee and exploring the possibility of bringing freedomFiber to Franklin County. The taskforce includes members of the Extension office, Russellville Electric, Franklin Water and Electric and others.
