Seven Springs, Grantham ready to go online
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 8, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Alan Fitzpatrick, chief executive officer of Open Broadband of Waxhaw, updates Wayne County commissioners Tuesday on a pilot project to provide wireless broadband in the county.
Seven Springs and Grantham residents will be able to sign up for wireless high-speed internet beginning in September.
Gigabit speed will be available in downtown Goldsboro within one-half mile of a tower on building at 139 W. Walnut St. with speeds of 25 to 100 megabits per second available within five miles of the downtown site.
Alan Fitzpatrick, Open Broadband of Waxhaw CEO, updated Wayne County commissioners Tuesday on a pilot project with the goal to provide wireless broadband countywide.
The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband as 25 megabits download speed as a minimum.
Countywide high-speed internet is a pet project for Commission Chairman Bill Pate, who has said schools and businesses are driving the need for the service.
Yet, in some parts of the county, particularly in the Seven Springs and Grantham communities, broadband does not exist.
Counties cannot operate cable television or internet systems, and this past November, commissioners awarded a $39,000 contract to Open Broadband to conduct a pilot program to determine the feasibility of the company offering the service in the county.
The company is currently working along the N.C. 55 corridor from Seven Springs to Grantham.
Fitzpatrick said the company is able to place antennas on water towers, communication towers and by even adding towers onto grain bins.
Smaller receivers are installed at the home of customers.
Customers can purchase the equipment upfront at a cost of $150 or lease it for $10 a month. Under a lease, the company is responsible for the equipment.
The cost of the internet service will start at $30 per month.
The gigabit speed will be $379 month and is really designed for businesses, Fitzpatrick said.
"We are getting a lot of inquiries from Dobbersville and Suttontown," Fitzpatrick said. "It's amazing the number of people who are just finding out about what we are doing and hitting us up daily with emails asking for service.
"I think we are going to find the same thing on the northern end of the county as well. We just haven't been too active yet because we don't have the infrastructure, but we will."
Commissioner Ray Mayo of Pikeville said he is concerned about the lack of broadband countywide, especially in northern Wayne County.
"I am looking at student access to the internet," Mayo said. "That's what the concern is in the northern part of the county.
"It is all good for individuals to have it, but we need to get to the point where it's available to every student in this county."
That is the ultimate goal, Mayo said.
Mayo said, as such, he would like to see a concerted effort toward that end.
Mayo said he and other commissioners from that area would be glad to help the company find the contacts they might need to secure tower or antenna locations.
"Part of the DNA of the company is that we believe everybody should be online," Fitzpatrick said. "We believe in digital inclusion. If you are not online, you are going to miss out on educational opportunities.
"You are going to miss out on tele-health opportunities. You are going to miss out on applying for jobs. You have to be online to operate in today's world."
That includes access to residents in public housing, he said.
The company has done a similar project in Charlotte and proposes to do the same thing in six Goldsboro pubic housing communities through the Goldsboro Housing Authority, Fitzpatrick said.
"We haven't heard yet if they are going to hire us to do it," Fitzpatrick said. "But we have basically offered blanket broadband coverage for every single person in the six communities.
"Just because they are low income does not mean they do not have access to broadband."
Commissioner Joe Gurley asked Fitzpatrick if he had a forecast for when service would be available in eastern and western parts of the county -- specifically the New Hope and Rosewood areas.
Not yet, Fitzpatrick said.
"They are not on the current list," he said. "That doesn't mean we won't get to them. They are just not on the current list."
Fitzpatrick said he anticipates it will take about three years to provide the service countywide.
Grantham and Seven Springs will take up the rest of the year, he said. Fremont will be worked on as well this year, Fitzpatrick said.
Gurley said that schools in the New Hope and Rosewood communities would be the foundation for the start in those communities.