By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Paris, Tenn.—Taking the initial steps toward providing broadband services to Henry County, the Board of Public Utilities Thursday approved the hiring of Kersey Consulting Services and Younger Associates to both develop a business plan and produce a customer survey to gauge the community’s interest in having BPU provide broadband services.
Cost of engaging Kersey Consulting Services for the business plan is $25,000 and the cost to Younger Associates to provide the community survey is $5,138.
The board heard presentations on the broadband proposal at a special meeting last week.
BPU General Manager Terry Wimberley said broadband is a topic that “everyone is talking about”, including the public power representatives at meetings in Washington, D.C. and Nashville that he recently attended.
He said at the D.C. session, he felt honored when Congressman Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) was discussing the need for broadband “especially in rural areas” and specifically mentioned Henry County from his home state. “Rep. Alexander is a big supporter” of providing broadband services to all areas, Wimberley said.
In his recent meetings and through comments made by other public power company representatives, Wimberley said his confidence level in hiring Kim Kersey increased. “People were telling me he’s the best and it made me feel even more that he was the best choice for us,” Wimberley said.
In order to fain additional knowledge and information to make a fact-based business decision on the broadband venture, Wimberley said BPU management wants to engage the consultant to further assess the possibility.
Kersey can investigate the feasibility of offering broadband at retail and develop a business plan to outline the steps necessary to build out the network and implement network operations, he said.
If the business plan is found to be feasible, the consultant would provide ongoing guidance to BPU during the actual implementation of the broadband network.
Under the consulting agreement, Kersey would have the business plan ready for review by the board at its July meeting. Kersey has 48 years’ experience in the cable and telecommunications industry and was senior VP for the Jackson Energy Authority.
As for the community survey to be performed by Younger Associates, they would send out a two-page survey to all BPU commercial customers in the proposed broadband service area (some 1,500 customers). They projected some 15 percent response rate would result in some 225 returned surveys. The survey is expected to be completed by May 1.
Wimberley explained that before entering the broadband industry, BPU must make sure that it is in the best interest of all BPU customers; not just those who would be utilizing the broadband service. He went on to explain that the engagement of Kersey Consulting Services and Younger Associates will allow BPU to make an informed decision before deciding whether to move forward with the offering.
Wimberley noted, “This is not going to be an overnight process. We take very seriously our commitment to our customer, so as we look at this offering, we want to proceed in such a way that we are being both fiscally responsible and not wavering on the reliability of the other services we provide.”
In other business:
–Director of Electric Operations Cole Edwards reported that crews have been installing the LED lights for the city of Puryear He said, “We budgeted $35,000”, but the actual cost will be closer to $30,000.
There are six more lights left to go in Puryear, after which all the communities in Henry Co. will have LED lights.
Wimberley noted, “This will be good for us and for customers. Our maintenance costs will be declining now.”
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