Scott County Judge-Executive Joe Pat Covington had a broad grin during the joint work session between the Scott County Fiscal Court and the Georgetown City Council.
The topic was affordable housing, but internet coverage surfaced during the discussions.
“We have broadband,” Covington said with a smile. “We have broadband in Scott County.”
The project to bring internet service throughout Scott County took almost three years, but as of this week, an additional 5,100 homes and businesses in the county now have broadband service. The project was one of Covington’s first objectives when he was elected judge-executive.
“We are now one of the most connected communities in the nation,” Covington said. “This has been a transformational effort on the part of the fiscal court and the community.
“I truly did not understand the scale of what we were trying to do, and at times it was very frustrating. But it’s well worth the effort and the opportunities this has opened for everyone from students to businesses to families is tremendous.”
The project’s timeline was originally one year, but progress slowed because of the process to obtain pole permits. There were no clear procedures to obtain permits to use poles owned by different utilities such as Kentucky Utilities, Bluegrass Energy, Owen Electric and railroad companies. Covington appeared before the Kentucky General Assembly urging lawmakers to help develop a procedure to speed up the process.
Eventually, a process was developed and continues to be fine-tuned, which will help with similar projects throughout Kentucky, Covington said.
Scott County’s broadband project was initially financed with a $3 million federal National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grant.
“I want to thank the fiscal court,” Covington said. “When this was first brought up, they did not bat an eye. We got the grant and no (county) general fund dollars were used on this project. They were ready to use the general fund, if necessary, but it was accomplished without any local funds.
“Spectrum invested over $15 million in the project. Not only did this provide internet service to areas that did not have it before, but the service throughout the county has had a major upgrade to two gigabit speeds.”
Spectrum was chosen for the project through a bid process. The completion of the Scott County project marks the completion of Spectrum’s first countywide expansion project, according to a press release.
“Spectrum is bringing gigabit broadband to unserved communities in Kentucky and across America,” said Heather Day, area vice president for Kentucky’s Management Area in a company press release. “Our investment is making it possible to deliver high-value broadband, mobile, TV and voice services now available in Scott County.”
The total cost of the project was about $18.3 million, including the $3 million NTIA grant and $15.3 million invested by Spectrum.