Broadband upgrades coming to Anson

WADESBORO- The NC Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grant awarded to Spectrum will provide four million dollars in funding to bring gigabit high-speed internet access to homes and small businesses across Anson County. Current county commissioner’s anticipation, along with county residents, has been building since the original announcement was made in August of 2022.

Along with the state grant of four million, a contribution from the county of $250,000, and nearly $10.5 million coming from Spectrum, total funds allotted to the project come to $14.7 million.

“Which is a perfect amount of funding for us,” declared Commissioner JD Bricken.

During the pandemic students struggled with online learning in the remote areas of the county where high-speed internet is currently not an option.

“We want to improve the commercial and industrial areas of the county while also concentrating on upgrading the high-speed internet capabilities of the more remote areas of the county,” Bricken said.

Bricken would like to see work start in reverse. Rather than start from the middle of the county, or the Wadesboro area, he would encourage broadband coming to the fringe-areas first and then work back toward the middle. Service in localities such as Burnsville and Morven are truly suffering from lack of internet service both in homes and in small businesses. Bricken feels these technological advancements will be beneficial for both at home businesses as well as students learning from home.

“Of great concern during COVID was students trying to access Zoom… families had to apply for hotspots… it was a mess,” commiserated Bricken, who is also plagued with poor service at his home.

Perceiving advantages from high-speed internet capabilities from the point of view of Peachland’s Fire Chief, Commissioner Jamie Caudle, views the new broadband coming in as a way to significantly improve Anson’s 911 operating centers.

Caudle sites Windstream’s inability to keep up with service demands as a reason for his optimism that Spectrum will be coming and is currently working with the county to assist in developing improved high -speed connection in the county’s more remote areas.

“Some years back the state mandated that all services use ESInet,” explains Caudle, referencing the next generation of 911 telecommunication. ESInet stands for Emergency Services IP Network, which are IP networks used for emergency telecommunications services and are designed to be safe for all public agencies to use.

“Currently when a certain cell service provider calls in an emergency, I think it is Verizon, calls to 911 are transferred to Stanley County… then it gets transferred to Anson,” explains Caudle, expressing his frustration that this ongoing disruption in service could potentially cost lives, with precious seconds wasted routing calls between counties.

Having battled fires in Anson County since the age of 14, Caudle knows personally how valuable every second is in an emergency.

“We hope to have these IT issues addressed sometime in January or February… it’s not as simple as just flipping a switch,” Caudle cautions.

The county is hopeful to continue service with Windstream though Caudle admits the door is always open to providers that can improve the service of high speed internet for both our emergency services and our citizen’s needs.

“We are always looking for a chance to enhance services for our system; we are always hoping to expand our emergency services for our citizens,” Caudle said.

He feels that Windstream is not providing, “adequate technology and equipment for Anson County.”

The GREAT grant is one of nine awarded to Spectrum to expand fiber optic broadband infrastructure, and Caudle expects this expansion to aid the 911 call center’s response time. The grant applies to 51 of the 100 counties in the state, which has the second-largest rural population of any state. In addition to high-speed internet, Spectrum will also be offering Anson County Spectrum TV and Spectrum mobile services.

Spectrum offers customers 1 Gbps and starting speeds of 300 Mbps, with no modem fees, data caps, or contracts. Another feature county residents may be eligible to take advantage of is the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which makes high-speed internet service available at low or possibly no cost to eligible families in financial need. All Spectrum internet plans are eligible for ACP credits.

At the county commissioner’s meeting, held on Oct. 3, County Manager Leonard Sossaman, commented that he expects broadband to be available to Anson County residents and small businesses within the next two years.