Trenton, Tenn. – Gibson Connect reached a huge milestone when it connected its 10,000th subscriber in October. The wholly-owned, not-for-profit broadband subsidiary of Gibson Electric Membership Corporation was formed in 2017 after Tennessee legislature passed the Tennessee Broadband Accessibility Act. Construction of Gibson Connect’s broadband network started in June 2018. Since that time Gibson EMC and Gibson Connect have been working steadily to provide the co-op’s member-owners with access to high-speed, fiber-based internet, phone and TV service.
“Our employees and contractors have built 2,495 miles of fiber to date; and we have about 1,030 miles left to build,” says Charles Phillips, Gibson EMC VP of Technical Services and Gibson Connect VP of Operations.
To a large extent, members have driven the order of Gibson Connect’s buildout by registering their support at join.gibsonconnect.com. Currently 18,717 supporters have registered.
“We divided our service area into 27 zones and the zones that reached their participation goals first were built first,” says Phillips. “When grants have come available, we have applied for them; and we have received more than $7.5 million in Tennessee construction grants to date,” he says. “But as we’ve progressed, these grant award requirements and engineering considerations have also influenced the order of our build.”
“We have taken advantage of every option available to control our costs and build our broadband network as affordably as possible,“ according to Dan Rodamaker, President and CEO of Gibson EMC and Gibson Connect. “At the current time, we are actively applying for a Kentucky grant; and we are looking forward to starting construction and providing this important service to members in that part of our service area,” he says. “Ultimately, we plan to provide access to all of Gibson EMC’s members who are eligible.”
Rodamaker says while the project has been a tremendous undertaking, it has been absolutely worthwhile. “Having access to Gig internet service opens up a world of opportunity to our members and our communities,” he said. “Not only does the high-speed fiber network enable us to work and educate at home, enjoy a wide variety of entertainment options, and have reliable telephone service, but it also puts our communities on equal footing when recruiting jobs to our area.”
“We’re happy that we’ve reached this milestone, but more than anything we’re grateful to everyone who has gotten behind this important cause,” Rodamaker says. “We thank our members who have supported Gibson Connect by registering for this service and then subscribing to it as we passed their homes and businesses. We are grateful to our board of trustees for their vision and commitment to provide this essential service to our member-owners. Finally, we sincerely appreciate our incredible team of employees and contractors for their tireless dedication and hard work.”
Photo: Autumn Porter is a member of Gibson Connect’s local tech support team.