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Open Broadband says 25 Gloucester signups; towers unresolved pending BEAD decision
Summary
Open Broadband reported 25 Gloucester customers on its fixed wireless, cellular-router and Starlink offerings and described unresolved tower installations and a pending BEAD fiber grant that could affect future buildout.
Greg Reed, area supervisor for Open Broadband, told the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors that 25 Gloucester residents have signed up for the service since the county’s last update and that the provider is supplementing fixed wireless with cellular routers and Starlink installations in hard‑to‑reach locations.
“Our total in Gloucester is now 25 residents that have signed up,” Reed said, adding that three customers are using cellular routers in harder‑to‑reach locations. Reed said Open Broadband has also joined the local chamber of commerce to pursue business customers and provided in‑building wireless service at no charge to a new county business.
Reed told the board that the county previously contracted for several towers but the county later sought refunds and the towers ordered for Gloucester were used temporarily on other jobs while awaiting site decisions and zoning. A company representative — identified in discussion simply as Alan, the CEO — discussed holding the towers in inventory versus pursuing partial refunds; Reed said the county’s attorney will negotiate the best outcome and that the towers have not been built in Gloucester yet.
Reed also said the county was a candidate for a federal fiber grant under the BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program, but the statewide award announcement had been delayed while federal funds were finalized. He said the BEAD award, if made to a selected provider, would not cover every household on the county’s non‑served list.
Board members asked for status updates on the towers, the BEAD timeline and the county’s ability to re‑use millings or other materials. Reed said Open Broadband has been pursuing signups with flyers and in‑person outreach but that civilian subscription rates have remained modest in much of the region.
No formal action was taken; Reed said he would follow up with county staff on tower status and on procurement paperwork needed for state reporting.
