Arrowhead Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AECI) has had an overwhelming response to its request for people to sign-up if they are interested in eventually receiving broadband Internet service from the cooperative. As of June 27, 2011, over 550 homeowners, cabin owners, and businesses had submitted preregistration forms.
Installation of fiber optic cable on the West End of the county is slated to begin along the Caribou Trail in Lutsen on July 25 and the cooperative is moving forward with its plan to get the entire county connected. “The second area of construction will be between the Arrowhead Electric Cooperative office and the Lake/Cook county line,” said AECI Director of Member Services Joe Buttweiler.
However, recalling that the Northeast Service Cooperative (NESC) “Middle Mile” project that was to bring the fiber optic lines up the North Shore corridor, some community members asked what happened to that plan? What was the problem?
According to Cook County Information Technology Director Danna MacKenzie, there is no problem. She said the plan for NESC to bring fiber optic up the North Shore was in place before AECI received funding for its broadband project. The two cooperatives realized that it would be beneficial to work together. “Arrowhead can help NESC bring its service to the North Shore. NESC will help Arrowhead reach the rest of the world,” said MacKenzie.
Buttweiler said NESC broke ground in April on its planned 915-mile network intended to connect communities across eight counties, including Lake and Cook counties. He reiterated that working together will “leverage each other’s funding and capabilities.”
“It is very likely that NESC will do zero construction in Cook County,” said Buttweiler. “Arrowhead will supply fiber space to NESC to serve specific anchor tenants and NESC will provide Arrowhead fiber from our area to Duluth.
“The agreement will be a zero-dollar cost exchange since the distance each organization receives is essentially the same,” said Buttweiler, adding, “Of course, a lot of other details are involved. But this agreement would be a great deal for NESC, for Arrowhead, and all of Cook County. The terms of our agreement would ensure that Cook County has stable capacity and some levels of improved redundancy for many, many years to come.”
In September 2010, AECI was awarded a $11,296,239 grant and a $4,841,245 low-interest government loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Recovery Act Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP).
Additional funding for broadband in Cook County was included in the initial list of projects to be funded with the 1% sales and use tax implemented in April 2010. In July 2009, the funding amount proposed was $9.2 million.
Anyone with questions about Arrowhead Electric’s broadband network is encouraged to contact AECI Director of Member Services Joe Buttweiler at (218) 663-7239. Information is also available at: www.aecimn.com/broadbandproject/.
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