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Firefly reports design and make‑ready work advancing in Concord and Gladys; connections expected next year
Summary
Firefly told the Broadband Authority it has completed much of its field data collection and design work in Concord/Gladys areas and expects make‑ready and pole work to drive construction timing; company estimated about 83 miles of construction and a project cost figure described in the presentation.
Firefly updated the Broadband Authority on design, field data collection and make‑ready work in the Concord and Gladys service areas, and said the earliest meaningful customer connections in those southern build areas are likely to occur in late 2025.
Company representative Gary Wood described two work streams: an Appalachian Power Company (APCO) area in the north/northeast portion of the map and a Southside Electric Cooperative area in the southern polygon. “We have finished that field data as of last week,” Wood said, describing completed data collection that moves the project into detailed design.
Wood described tradeoffs between aerial and underground construction: where APCO is predominantly aerial the company will build aerial; in Southside territory Firefly said it will mix aerial backbone with underground laterals where cost and time make underground preferable. He also said the company had applied for pole make‑ready requests to Appalachian Power and was awaiting engineering quotes and make‑ready schedules.
On capacity and milestones Wood reported about 83 miles of construction were planned for the new area and referenced a project cost figure shown in the slides. “We have 83 miles of total construction in that new area, and it'll be about 11,300,000.0,” he said in the presentation. Wood said field crews are finishing final cleanup work and that some enclosures still needed securing on poles.
Wood raised industrywide constraints that influence timing: railroad flagging and Norfolk Southern contractor availability can delay crossings; he said the contractor handling Norfolk Southern flagging has recently been scheduling work 120 days out in some counties. Firefly plans a hut site (precast concrete shelter) to serve as a distribution node and said it expects to run roughly 35 miles of fiber from that location.
Timing: Firefly said applicants should expect make‑ready and pole work to take time and that significant production and connections in the southern area likely will appear in late 2025. The company urged residents to monitor project progress at Fireflyvia.com and register interest to be notified about construction and connection timing.
