Representatives with TEC, based in Bay Springs, met with the Newton County Board of Supervisors to discuss their plans to expand high-speed internet into Newton County.
Joey F. Garner, executive vice president of TEC, and Lisa Wigington, vice president of strategic operations, met with the supervisors Monday to announce that they will be bringing broadband internet to parts of Newton County by 2023. Garner said they have an agreement to work with Southern Pine to bring internet to many of their customers.
Wigington said that they have already committed $14 million to invest to serve more than 3,000 customers in Newton County. She said this will be better than the 25 megabits per second upload over 3 megabits per second download service that is the industry standard minimum for reliable internet connections.
“And so what we’re building to what we’re going to be able to our lowest offering is going to be a 250 (megabit upload) over 250 (megabit download),” Wigington said. “So when 25 over three is what they say is adequate. We’re going to offer up to 50, over two 50 at 500, over 500 and 940 gig. It’s a thousand or 1000. Those are the three offerings we’re going to offer to residential customers.”
Wigington said they are planning to offer WiFi hotspots at volunteer fire departments along the service area that will allow those who are not being served to have a place to sit in the parking lot and do work. She said customer internet plans will start around $55 per month.
“Actually, we started starting this the first of next week,” Wigington said. “We’re building a lot, 2,200 miles. So the first project rolls out in Raleigh, and it starts this week. So we’re going to go Raleigh parts of Covington, Simpson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Copiah, Scott.
“We went after everyone five and a half million dollars, and we are going to invest eight and a half million, the approximate bill,. Approximately 325 miles of fiber will be installed in Newton county and provide gigabit internet speeds to over 3,200 businesses and residences.”
A few areas in the southeastern part of the county in Chunky and Hickory will see offerings of high speed internet as early as next year due to a project that is already underway in that area, but the $14 million investment didn’t include this area.
Garner said they are not planning to enter areas where they already have adequate internet speeds, but their plan is to work mostly in the rural areas where AT&T has said that they do not plan to update their copper wire connections and also areas where they are being underserved.
Wigington said they could add more, but they are asking that the county invest some of its $4 million in COVID-19 relief money to go toward expanding internet. They said they could match that money with other grants and federal funding to help reach more customers.
The board took the request under advisement. No action was taken at this time.
