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and the project is expected to be completed by 2025.
A project of this magnitude also increases employment opportunities for residents around the area.
The immediate need is for construction workers, engineers, linemen, cable slicers, installers, and technicians, Wilson said.
“Last fall, over 600 people worked on these projects between our work in Anderson County and the surrounding counties,” he said.
Upon completion of construction, which is mainly funded by this grant, WCFIBER and Upcountry Fiber will have invested approximately $76 million in broadband to previously underserved areas of Anderson County since 2021.
Also, upon completion of construction, approximately 1,155.8 miles of fiber will have been constructed to pass nearly 19,000 eligible residential addresses since 2021.
Addresses included in the South Carolina Broadband Office grant and an additional 10,000 addresses surrounding them will be able to sign up for broadband internet service through WCFIBER or Upcountry Fiber, depending on their location.
West Carolina Telephone Cooperative has served parts of the Starr-Iva communities of Anderson County with fiber internet services for more than 15 years and with telecommunications services since the cooperative was founded more than 70 years ago.
“Communities are falling behind without access to high-speed and reliable internet,” said Wilson.
“With it, the Upstate’s rural communities have a better chance to become stronger by having a more attractive economic development story, easier access to information for students to learn, educators to teach, and for our neighbors to be better able to apply for jobs, have better access to healthcare by being able to meet with their doctors, if needed virtually. Entertainment options are a bonus.”
Travis Rose covers Anderson County for the Independent Mail. Reach him via email at trose@gannett.com.