High-speed internet coming to rural areas

Unaka – About 80 people came out to the Unaka Community Development Club on Saturday afternoon under rainy skies to attend a town meeting regarding an update on receiving high-speed broadband fiber internet service in the area.

Guest speakers included Murphy Mayor Tim Radford, who spoke about broadband fiber and its need; Cherokee County Commissioner Jan Griggs; along with Sherry Raines, director of operations for Peachtree Broadband Fiber, as well as owner David Daniel and project engineer Gary Smith, who were answering questions about the service, installation and fees.

Lake Silver, the western North Carolina field representative for U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), also joined the town meeting via Zoom.

During the meeting, a map was displayed showing the areas to receive high-speed broadband fiber internet service under this grant phase, which will start at the intersection of Hanging Dog, Davis Creek and Beaver Dam and includes Sheep Pasture, around Joe Brown Highway and down to Sing Branch.

The GREAT Grant came from the N.C. Department of Information & Technology. The project bringing broadband fiber to these areas is expected to be completed by October of 2025.

Additional funding will help cover other areas, such as Violet, in the future. The fiber will run through conduit under ground and will eliminate damage from weather and squirrels, who would otherwise enjoy chewing on the equipment, as well as other factors that can damage the connections.

Peachtree Broadband Fiber (formally Murphy Cable Co.) will provide all fiber without copper to the home, data package and land line-like phone service. They are also working on streaming video service.

Most customers will not incur an installation fee, and there won’t be any contracts. The speed will be up to 1 gig, with 2.5 gigs available to those customers needing it who have the equipment to handle it.

Nancy Helms, a member of both the Unaka and Grape Creek community centers, said of the long-awaited service, “It’s wonderful. This is an answer to so many of our needs. It’s beyond our wildest dreams just being able to get it.”

Griggs said, “Broadband internet is the future. Everyone has to have the ability to have that high-speed internet, and the fact that this company is able to bring that out to this rural development is huge for the people and the children because there’s a lot of educational opportunities that they get through broadband internet.

“The generosity of David Daniel has touched my heart; a lot of it is coming out of his pocket to make this happen for all of us,” she added.

Silver assured the group that Edwards has not forgotten folks in Cherokee County, and they are actively involved in several projects to help the area. The congressman’s office is working to secure funds for Murphy’s water lines as well as looking into grant funding to help fix issues with heavily traveled Joe Brown Highway.

Questions were raised and answered during the meeting, and residents were excited about receiving help to their areas.

“As mayor of Murphy, I firmly believe in the power of collaboration between community, government, and the private sector. By working together, we can bridge the digital divide, bringing essential technologies like broadband and cellular services to every corner of our county,” Radford said.

“This partnership is key to ensuring equal access to information and opportunities for all our residents.”

The next meeting with Peachtree Broadband Fiber will be held in the Hiwassee Dam Fire Department off on N.C. 294 at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17.

Details: Call 828-837-7118.