At its Jan. 10 meeting, the Macon County Board of Commissioners unanimously agreed to request proposals to establish broadband in the Nantahala community.
County Manager Derek Roland said this project is similar to the South Macon fiber optic project. The county has set aside $400,000 for a grant match, which comes from the $700,000 Nantahala Library and Community center funding. Roland said that project came in under $300,000.
Roland noted this is a request for proposals and it doesn’t mean the commissioners have to approve any of the proposals when submitted.
“It’s a net we’re casting out there with $400,000,” Roland said.
Jeff Lee of the broadband committee said that the $400,000 provides an incentive for providers, who would end up spending an estimated $1 to $2 million on the project themselves. Lee said he anticipates the total cost of the project would “easily reach $2 million, and it keeps going up every day.”
The RFP includes a mandate that all county facilities in the Nantahala area be connected, which includes the Nantahala Volunteer Fire Department, EMS, the Library and Community Center and the Rec Center. The estimated length of the fiber lines would be 11.5 miles, focusing on Wayah and Junaluska roads from the school to the southern end of the lake and from Wayah to the Rec Center. Lee said the project will connect any home or business within 500 feet of the infrastructure.
“That’s going to be a win for folks like our EMS, our rec folks over there and we feel that’s going to be a very positive thing for the Nantahala community,” Roland told the board. “It’s something those residents have been waiting for a long time.”
Lee said there are three broadband providers already interested in the project.
The vision would be to use state funding to expand off that initial infrastructure, with the potential project being phase one. State funding can’t be attained to expand broadband in the area since there’s nothing to expand from.
“The high school has fiber, but none of the businesses or residents have high-speed internet,” Lee said of the Nantahala region.