Conexon Connect on Thursday presented an update on the broadband expansion project that’s expected to serve 15,000 to 20,000 business and household locations within the next 18 months.
At their last meeting, Daviess County Fiscal Court approved a contract for the delivery of Conexon’s fiber-optic high-speed internet services. Fiscal Court is providing $10 million in ARPA funds for the service to reach 100% of Kenergy’s membership directly outside the Owensboro Municipal Utilities service territory but within the county lines.
Jonathan Chambers with Conexon said their service reaches 3 million rural Americans across 200,000 miles of fiber net design.
“Fiber networks are the present and the future. Fiber networks provide capacity that is unmatched by any other technology and fiber networks are built to last,” Chambers said.
Daviess County marks the first project in Kentucky for Conexon.
Judge-Executive Al Mattingly said that once the contract had been signed, he heard from Conexon that they were already on the ground and working to develop the plans.
Chambers said that Conexon plans to have positions open for local residents.
The organization offers four different services starting at $29.95 with the HD-Quality Phone and roller to $99.
Chambers said that through research, they were able to note the areas that do not currently have broadband service, and they plan to start in those areas. Most of the connectivity issues occurred on the edges of the county lines.
They have already started and plan to continue their work for 18 months. Chambers said the first piece of work that will be seen is “Make Ready Construction” where people will be changing some poles to prepare them for fiber to be installed.
Conexon plans to partner with Kenergy and only prepare poles that are a part of the Kenergy electric network. That means Kenergy members will be eligible for the services.
Chambers said by late fall they will have connections made within the county. He said the services are becoming extremely necessary as people are utilizing home WiFi and remote internet access for more production ability.
“As people start working from home and producing things from home, I think we’re at another stage where there’s another explosion of the internet,” Chambers said.
In other business, Fiscal Court held a public hearing concerning a potential extension of the Greenbelt from Daniels Lane to Yellow Creek Park on Reid Road.
Tom Lovett with Green River Area Development District said that the ultimate goal of the Greenbelt is to have it loop around the entirety of the county, and the section around the hospital has received work that would make it possible to connect it with Yellow Creek Park.
The project would be funded by the Federal Rect Trails Grant. The grant aims to make walking and biking facilities accessible to the public.
“That’s why the Greenbelt Project exists and why we keep expanding and adding to it — it’s to increase connectivity with the goal to connect all the parks together,” Lovett said.
