OMU increases bandwidth to meet need from community

April 16, 2020 | 12:06 am

Updated April 15, 2020 | 11:06 pm

The Owensboro Municipal Utility Commission amended its commercial bandwidth to higher levels and added new rates to reflect the increase in internet demand at their monthly meeting Wednesday.

Many businesses have required employees to work from home as a result of Gov. Andy Beshear’s “Healthy at Home” initiative addressing the coronavirus pandemic.

This shift to working from home has generated requests for higher levels of commercial bandwidth than what is currently approved at OMU.

“This is something obviously in response to the coronavirus,” said Sonya Dixon, OMU manager of public relations and communications.

Customers’ requests for the increase were enough to warrant attention by the commission, Dixon said, adding “we try to be responsive to our customers’ needs and this was an opportunity for us to do that.”

The commission also adopted a policy that would allow OMU to expedite its hiring procedures for critical positions.

Dixon said the move was made to prevent interruption in water and electricity services since the time necessary to test and train applicants to fill critical positions could create a risk to OMU’s operations.

She said people who recently retired from OMU who meets the qualifications can be re-hired to help during this time of need.

“This is all about providing consistent and reliable service, so if we’re able to do that then we want some flexibility,” Dixon said.

April 16, 2020 | 12:06 am

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