My Letter in Today's Dahlonega Nugget:
I read with interest the Dahlonega Nugget account on July 9, 2014 regarding GetUWired's need for high speed internet back in the woods at Cavender Creek and Copper Mines Road. Here are some facts that were omitted.
Whenever you see the words "block grant", think "Federal taxpayer money". So Lumpkin County is asking the Feds to provide $250,000 of taxpayer money to run a 4 mile wire from SR52 and Longbranch where the 100 Gigabit Internet Superhighway ("Big WIre") exists that the Federal Government spend $32 million to build in 2009. Mr. Goff could easily move his business right up next to the Big Wire but he prefers to stay out in the woods and have the taxpayers pay to bring the Big WIre to him. Just another example of corporate welfare. He says that he may build a 10,000 square foot office building there. This is just what Lumpkin County does not need, another big piece of infrastructure stranded out in the woods when Mr Goff ultimately "sells out" to Google or whomever and leaves. Think the abandoned carburetor plant on MacDonald Road. Perhaps+ Mr. Goff should change the name of his business to GetMeWiredAtTaxpayerExpense.
This is not the way things were supposed to go. What has happened since the Big Wire came to Lumpkin in 2012? The schools, government offices, and medical offices were put on the Wire paid for by the Feds. But no private residences and small businesses. Meanwhile over in White and Habersham Counties, 1600 private residents were put on the Wire and have 50 mbps internet for $50 a month courtesy of Habersham EMC. (Windstream DSL runs at about 6-8 mbps and costs $69 a month.) Habersham EMC is a non-profit customer owned cooperative with a legal monopoly to provide electricity in White and Habersham.
Why has there been a failure to deploy the Big Wire to residences and small businesses like GetUWired in Lumpkin? The reason is because no business would step up to do the job. Windstream was asked but declined. They were making too much money milking their current customer base. Both Georgia Power and Amicalola EMC declined. Why will no one make the investment and take the risk to bring the Big Wire to Lumpkin residents and businesses after the Federal Government made the key investment to enable it?
But help has arrived. Habersham EMC has created a new cooperative business called Georgia Communications Cooperative which has a product called Trailwave designed to bring the Big Wire to residents and businesses in Lumpkin. Yes, it is a co-op and not a for profit business. I talked to the President of GCC and asked him why they were not actively marketing Trailwave in Lumpkin. He told me that they were afraid to. They feared that they would be overwhelmed by demand. You can't make this stuff up. Go here to express your interest in 50 mbps for $50 internet and overwhelm them with demand:
http://www.trailwave.com/.
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