News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A broadband expansion project that would impact over 150,000 Tennessee homes and businesses broke ground in Cumberland County Friday.
The rural initiative lead by Spectrum through federal funds will give just under 6,000 Cumberland County homes access to broadband internet. Mayor Allen Foster said extending connectivity to constituents has been a goal of his since entering office.
“I decided to run for mayor about four years ago, and every fire hall, every meeting place you can go to and everywhere I went, hands down the largest issue was poor broadband service in Cumberland County,” Foster said.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton was present for the ground breaking. He said the project has the chance to open the world to those without internet.
“I appreciate the large investment that you are making into our community, and also as a state, we have invested $160 million in broadband,” Sexton said. “We’re investing another $500 million. One of the things that we believe is you should not be limited to your success in life based on where you live, and a lot of times broadband is good in the big cities, but not so good in the rural parts of Tennessee. So, bringing it into the rural areas will allow people to work, live and play where they so choose.”
The broadband will also complement existing internet connections for an additional 5,000 homes in the county. Spectrum Group Vice-President Marva Johnson said the project will bring fiber internet right to your door.
“As we embark on what is the largest rural broadband build perhaps in the history of our country certainly in the history of Tennessee, we looked to Cumberland County right here today to do our first groundbreaking to mark that effort. We are super excited.”
Johnson said the broadband services will also benefit mobile services and cut prices for Spectrum customers. The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund in Tennessee is a part of a $5 billion Charter investment to buildout to 1.1 million homes in 24 states.
