Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
A Georgia-based company is proposing to bring wireless internet to rural areas of Jefferson County.
Representatives of ESE Networks, a high-speed internet provider that calls itself a solutions company, made their pitch to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday evening, Feb. 20.
Speaking for the company were CEO Todd Woodruff, head engineer Randy Brightman and a third gentleman whose name and title either went unmentioned or unheard.
The group represented that their company provided a multitude of services, including video streaming and broadband, and served some 700 schools across Georgia and elsewhere.
Woodruff explained that his company had been approached by Madison County about its lack of connectivity and how the problem might be resolved. But after his company had mapped the community's assets, such as its water tanks and communications tower, the individual who was supposed to finance the project had pulled out, he said.
That was when his company had turned its eyes to Jefferson County, thinking it could do the project here, Woodruff said.
He mentioned $600 million in federal funding that was available for high-speed internet connectivity, which money he said Jefferson County could possibly tap into to accomplish the project.
Brightman talked about implementing point-to-point and point to multipoint systems, attaining 360-degree coverage and enhancing capabilities. But basically, he said, his company's aim was to serve people who had been left behind in the digital age. While most companies worked
to install the basic infrastructure for connectivity from the ground up, his company worked in reverse, he said.
“We start with the citizen and work backwards,” Brightman said. “We look at the last mile first, and then we work backwards.”
In the telecommunications, cable television and internet industries, the last mile refers to the final leg of telecommunications networks that deliver the telecommunication service to the retail end-users or customers.
Brightman said his company was considering different options, including putting up its own towers if need be. But its preference, he said, was to collocate on exiting towers, water tanks and the like.
As for pricing, he said the service to customers would range from $45 monthly for the basic package to $90 to $150 monthly for the upgraded version.
He explained that the way it would work was that the county would have to apply for the grant, as private companies were ineligible of applying. ESE Networks would then deploy the network, he said, noting that the system's coverage would extend within a seven-mile radius of each tower.
“We want to provide fixed wireless is what we want to do,” Brightman said, adding that most companies weren't willing to take on such small projects, but ESE Networks was.
Commissioner Stephen Fulford asked about the viability of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connectivity, given the the availability or soon-to-be availability of 3G, 5G, satellite and other wireless alternatives.
Brightman largely dismissed the availability or effectiveness of the cited alternatives, saying that their espoused or potential uses hadn't thus far been realized or were slow in materializing, and that their benefits likely wouldn't be realized in remote rural areas for a long time.
Phil Calandra, a citizen, questioned who would own the system if the county was the grant applicant. Too, he wanted to know if 3 or 5G couldn't be integrated with the point-to-point and point-to-multipoint systems to fill whatever gaps the latter systems left.
Brightman largely avoided responding to the first question. All he would said was that the project was still in a “fluid” state and such considerations would have to be addressed and negotiated down the line if the proposal went forward.
As for whether 5G could be integrated into the system, Brightman's again largely sidestepped the question. Other than to reiterate that his company's goal was to serve the people who had been left behind in terms of connectivity.
The question also came up of how much it would cost to deploy such systems in Jefferson County?
Woodruff offered that for phase 1 in Madison County, the cost would have been $1 million to cover 60 percent of the county.
“I would say it would take a couple of million dollars to cover this county,” he said.
The only other citizen to speak on the issue was Katrina Richardson, executive director of the Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber and Tourist Development Council. Richardson expressed support for the proposal and encouraged the commission to pursue it.
She said the chamber received a great many calls from potential newcomers to the county, and one of the first things that they wanted to know was what was the quality of the internet locally.
Additionally, she said, as the grandmother of a young student who lived in the county, she was well aware of how inadequate the connectivity was in the rural areas. Her granddaughter, she said, often asked to come over to her house to complete her homework, as the internet reception in her parents' house was slow or nonexistent.
“I encourage you to do your due diligence and check this out,” Richardson said.
The commissioners thanked the group for the presentation and seemed to leave the door open to the proposal, at least to the degree that they didn't outright reject it.