DESOTO WELCOMES MORE BROADBAND
Three telecommunications companies got $51.5M to expand highspeed Internet service in rural Mississippi, including part of Nesbit.
Lee Caldwell sees the pebble in the pond when it comes to expanded broadband Internet access in rural areas of Mississippi.
Caldwell, a DeSoto County supervisor who has been at the forefront of efforts to expand broadband in the county, said many people are surprised to learn 45 percent of DeSoto still does not have broadband, or highspeed, Internet access even though it’s populous and urbanized.
So anytime service is expanded in rural areas of the state, and still-underserved areas of DeSoto get a nibble, she’s happy.
Such was the case last week when three telecommunications companies received $51.5 million to expand service in rural areas of the state. Caldwell said among the areas benefiting from the most recent expansion announcement is an area of Nesbit, which Caldwell represents on the board of supervisors.
“We’re very excited for the areas of the state getting it,” Caldwell said. “It’s sort of like pebbles in a pond; we’re hoping to feel the ripple effects.”
The companies getting federal money to expand service include AT&T, Windstream Communications and Frontier Communications. AT&T is getting the lion’s share of the money, $49.8 million, from the Federal Communications Commission to add service for 134,000 customers statewide. The Mississippi share of AT&T funding is part of $427 million the company is accepting nationwide to expand high-speed access.
Windstream will get $917,000 for about 2,800 customers in eight southern and central Mississippi counties, and Frontier will receive $817,000 to serve more than 2,500 customers in eight northeast Mississippi counties.
The FCC plans to spend more than $10 billion to subsidize the expansion of fast Internet networks across the country in the next six years, using money that telecommunications customers pay as part of the $4.5 billiona-year universal service fund. That money also subsidizes high-cost telephone service and Internet
connections to schools, libraries and hospitals.
Mississippi is a disproportionately large beneficiary of the money, getting more than $238 million in 2014.
But in some rural counties such as Amite or Walthall, the FCC estimates more than half of residents don’t have access to even moderately fast Internet connections. The FCC reported last year that 15 million Americans, primarily in rural areas, had no broadband access.
Under the terms of the Connect America Fund, companies taking money must offer connections that allow download speeds of 10 megabits per second and upload speeds of 1 megabit per second. Carriers must build 40 percent of their commitment by the end of 2017, and all of it by the end of 2020.
In DeSoto, which isn’t nearly as lacking as many counties, efforts have nonetheless been underway to fill in coverage gaps. In addition to local officials like Caldwell, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley also is active in the cause.
Presley, who represents the northern third of Mississippi on the PSC, frequently holds public hearings in DeSoto County to discuss utility and Internet access concerns. He applauded the most recent service expansion announcement.
“Access to Internet is crucial in today’s society,” Presley said in a statement. “In the 21st century, people deserve the opportunity to have Internet access in their homes, whether their homes are in downtown Jackson or rural Mississippi. This funding puts us one step closer to bridging the broadband gap.”
Not all efforts have been successful. Horn Lake was one of the cities chosen by Mississippi-based C Spire to receive its initial rollout of high-speed Internet service in the state, but Mayor Allen Latimer said none of the selected Horn Lake neighborhoods signed up enough subscribers.