Natchez Trace EPA General Manager Shawn Edmondson earlier this month updated the Eupora Rotary Club on broadband progress and electric projects.
Edmondson was guest speaker at the club’s June 7 luncheon meeting. He said NT Spark, the electric power association’s fiber subsidiary, has 1,300 internet customers and about 250 voice customers in the Eupora District (Webster County service area), and is still getting applications here.
“We were blown away with the response and support we got,” Edmondson said of the Eupora District, which was NT Spark’s pilot project as an underserved area. “Y’all were our proving ground.”
The internet service provider is now working in the Vardaman area and has 2,900 active subscribers systemwide.
“We’ve strung about 1,000 miles of (mainline distribution) fiber in less than two years,” Edmondson said, adding that the entire system should be completed next year.
According to a handout he provided, NTEPA has spent nearly $26 million on broadband in two years. This includes nearly $8.72 million total in CARES Act funding ($4.36 million each from CARES and Natchez Trace Electric matching funds) plus an additional investment of $17.1 million by the electric co-op.
Well over a billion dollars (including federal subsidies) will have been spent on broadband infrastructure construction in Mississippi when all participating cooperatives complete their projects, according to Edmondson. He said the 17 electric co-ops in Mississippi that that offer high-speed internet are looking at interconnectivity to improve their service. Edmondson noted the advantages that the fiber-to-the-home network provides those who have been disconnected, such as many being able to work from home and telehealth services.
On the electric side, he said NTEPA has finished a special project that provides an alternate feed for wells and pumps in Eupora. The association does special construction projects every four years.
“Natchez Trace and NT Spark are here for you,” said Edmondson, pointing out that NTEPA has an office in Eupora. Craig McCluskey is the Eupora District manager.
