For the first time, over 2,000 families in east Jefferson County will have access to high-speed internet.
On Monday, Jefferson County officials declared that a $7.5 million construction project aimed at providing gigabit broadband connectivity to rural areas will be financed by both federal and local funds.
Within the next year, more than 1,800 families will have access to Spectrum Internet. Charter Communications claims that the business offers connectivity services under the Spectrum name.
“We all take water and electricity for granted,” Mayor Craig Greenberg remarked. “Broadband access is equally as important.”
After relocating to Fisherville fifteen years ago, David Weihe and his family constructed a house close to his in-laws. The main disadvantage was still having access to high-speed internet.
“Having broadband, or the lack thereof, was extremely difficult,” Weihe stated.
Cell connectivity from the family’s hill is limited to AT&T. He said that downloading a single movie took days before Starlink widened access.
“Using the previous provider, if I downloaded a standard definition movie from iTunes, it would take 247 hours,” Weihe stated.
The pandemic made it even more critical to come online as soon as possible, and new funding are now making it possible for this rural area to fully embrace the digital era.
Representative Stuart Benson (R–20), whose district includes Fisherville, has been working for ten years to improve access to the area with the help of his legislative assistant.
Benson remarked, “We’ve been pushing this for forever.”
With the help of district funds secured by Metro Councilman Stuart Benson, more than 1,800 homes and businesses will obtain Spectrum high-speed internet for the first time in the upcoming year.
Fisherville resident Karen Gaddy remarked, “I don’t even know if I’m able to understand how quick this is.”
Ellen Call with Charter stated, “And so we’re not going to be putting up any new poles. If the utilities are on poles, they’re on poles, if they’re underground, we’ll go underground,”
According to Spectrum officials, households will receive the service directly, even if they are located hundreds of feet distant from utility poles.
Permitting will take an additional few months, they claim. Spectrum predicts that after that is finished, the project will take nine months to finish.
