Work begins on $150 million broadband project

Fiber is being installed in the Nashville, Ark., area, so Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative customers will have access to high-speed internet. The cooperative's entire service area is expected to have broadband access after the $150 million project is complete in five to six years. (Submitted photo)
Fiber is being installed in the Nashville, Ark., area, so Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative customers will have access to high-speed internet. The cooperative's entire service area is expected to have broadband access after the $150 million project is complete in five to six years. (Submitted photo)

NASHVILLE, Ark. - Work has started here on a $150 million project that will ultimately make broadband available to all Southwest Arkansas Electric Cooperative's members in the Four States area, officials said.

The Cooperative, headquartered in Texarkana, Arkansas, is building a 5,000-mile fiber-to-the-home network that will reach 32,000 homes and businesses, 100% of its service territory plus several adjacent areas, said Dion Cooper, the Cooperative's president and CEO.

The Cooperative's fiber subsidiary, Four States Fiber, is conducting make-ready engineering in the project's first zones, the Nashville area.

Residents are asked to watch for workers in the Nashville area and drive cautiously through the work areas.

The first customers should be connected by September but the overall project is expected to take five to six years to complete.

After the fiber is installed in the Nashville area, crews will move on to Lockesburg, Foreman and then the Texarkana areas, according to records.

Southwest Electric Cooperative's four-state service area is "terribly under-served" and has a "real need for broadband," Cooper said.

"It makes a lot of sense for electric cooperatives to be able to deliver this service," he said. "We're going to go to the areas that nobody else is going to go to. We can leverage existing infrastructure and get this crucial service out to the rural areas."

The extremely low density of the territory, averaging 4.5 meters per mile, posed a significant challenge in the project's feasibility stage.

Conexon conducted an initial study and presented results to the Southwest Arkansas Electric Board of Directors in 2017.

Initially the Cooperative's board didn't move forward on the project a decision Cooper called "the right decision at the time" because the network would not reach a financial break-even point until approximately 15 years.

With the need still evident to provide the broadband, the Texarkana-based electric cooperative joined Conexon's Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium in 2020 to pursue funding through the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

"The light bulb came on and we thought, 'Hey, we can do this.' There's potential for us to have success here and bring this to our members," Cooper said.

The RDOF auction proved a turning point, with the co-op winning $53.6 million, the largest amount awarded to any RECC member.

"RDOF funding gives us the financial stability to move forward with the project. It made it a completely feasible option for us night and day difference," Cooper said. "Our break-even is now year 1. You can see what a dramatic change that funding has made for us."

Conexon is providing network design, construction project management, operations and marketing services.

Cooper said he's excited to watch the project develop and hopes that the RDOF money will help to speed it along to be able to serve members more quickly.

"Most of the credit goes to Conexon," Cooper said about the project's funding success and resulting quick start. The company's knowledge in the buildout and bidding process has "made a huge difference," he said.

The website is now live where people can go online to pre-register for the services. www.fourstatesfiber.com.

People who pre-register will be notified when service will be available.

The cost will be $49.99 per month for 100Mbps or $79.99 for 1000Mbps.

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