ACE is officially launching a company to offer high speed internet to its members.
“Alcorn Co. Electric Power Association, America’s 1st electric cooperative is launching their broadband company, First Light Fiber. Alcorn Co. EPA will be the first rural electric cooperative to offer multi-gigabit residential service. Alcorn’s broadband project becomes the fifth rural electric cooperative in Mississippi to announce broadband services since August.” said public service commissioner Brandon Presley.
From ACE;
ACE POWER LAUNCHES BROADBAND COMPANY
America’s first rural electric cooperative is setting its sights on the future, once again. Alcorn County Electric Power Association (ACE) has launched its broadband subsidiary, First Light Fiber, LLC.
First Light Fiber will provide world-class, fiber-to-the-home services to all members of ACE. After much research it has been determined that ACE will become the first rural electric cooperative to offer multi-gigabit speeds to residential customers. Multi-gigabit is anything over 1 gigabit-per-second, or 1,000 megabits-per-second.
ACE will be utilizing cutting-edge technologies in fiber optics to build its network. With the movement of traditional television subscribers to streaming, or over-the-top services, high speed broadband service will be in greater demand than ever. By building fiber-to-the-home networks, ACE will help to ensure that the future connectivity needs in Alcorn County will be met for generations to come.
The cooperative has contracted with FiberRise, LLC, located in Huntsville, Alabama, to serve as the engineering design consultant for the fiber project. FiberRise has a tremendous amount of experience designing and building fiber-to-the-home networks for electric cooperatives and has already begun the design process.
The initial plan calls for a four-year build of the fiber infrastructure needed to provide service to 100 percent of the electric membership. Construction will begin during the first quarter of 2020. Pricing for the services has yet to be determined but will be very competitive with pricing for internet services offered through current providers, although subscribers may see speed increases of anywhere from 10 to 100 times their current speed.
The speed and reliability to be offered by First Light Fiber will greatly enhance internet services such as; video, telemedicine, education and video gaming. Additionally, First Light Fiber plans to sell Voice Over IP phone services to both residential and commercial consumers, including business voice services.
First Light Fiber is currently working on a registration process for future subscribers. More information on this process will be made available later this year.
