Blue Ridge Electric Co-Op and West Carolina Tel (WCTEL) on Tuesday, May 18, unveiled plans for a $150 million data backbone buildout into some of the Upstate’s least-connected communities.
Upcountry Fiber, a partnership formed late last year between Blue Ridge and WCTEL, will give about a quarter million people in the rural and suburban areas of Northern Greenville, Northern Spartanburg, Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties access to high-speed data for their homes and businesses.
“We’ve known for a long time that high-speed internet service was not readily available in most of our territory,” Blue Ridge Electric’s president and CEO Jim Lovinggood said. “Leveraging Blue Ridge’s existing infrastructure and WCTEL’s last-mile access — the new venture will build out the fiber network needed to deliver service.”
WCTEL CEO Jeff Wilson said the co-ops share the same passion.
“That’s what made working with Blue Ridge so attractive — their view on serving their member-subscribers,” he said. “Our co-ops would not exist if it were not for the big, investor-owned utilities choosing not to serve rural areas. They’ve chosen not to bring digital networks into these areas, so, we’re going to do it.”
“Our co-ops would not exist if it were not for the big, investor-owned utilities choosing not to serve rural areas. They’ve chosen not to bring digital networks into these areas, so, we’re going to do it.” – WCTEL CEO Jeff Wilson
The Upcountry Fiber backbone – financed through a combination of public and private loans – will come online in phases between now and 2026, Lovinggood said. The initial buildout is centered in the Seneca and Central areas and will work its way outward through the end of 2021, according to the announcement. Lovinggood said the goal is to make the service available to those within the Blue Ridge service footprint and beyond.
And people are already choosing the service in areas where it’s being offered, according to data from a test launch in February, said Zach Hinton, Blue Ridge Electric’s vice president of support services.
“Our testing site was a neighborhood that, while underserved, still had options for data. They chose us 70% of the time. That’s phenomenal,” Hinton said.
A synchronous (upstream-downstream speeds are equally fast) 250-mbps package will be about $50/month. A synchronous, one-gigabyte package will come in just under $80/month, according to UpcountryFiber.com. The company plans on offering services to rural and suburban schools and county government buildings, too.
Shannon Sears, WCTEL’s director of commercial operations, said those who want to lobby for the service in their area can do so online.
“People can register their interest in Upcountry Fiber by going to the website and following the prompts. If you want it, let us know of your interest,” he said.
