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Wilson County hears broadband deployment updates: DTC and United report ARP and grant progress
Summary
Two providers briefed commissioners on completed ARP projects, ongoing USDA and county‑funded builds and customer connections; DTC and United reported thousands of premises passed and multi‑million dollar investments.
Two broadband providers and their partners updated the Wilson County Commission on fiber deployments funded in part by county ARP dollars and federal grants.
Brent Adcock, operations manager at DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (DTC), told commissioners DTC’s Wilson County ARP project totaled about $3.5 million, including roughly $800,000 in county ARP grant funds. Adcock said the DTC ARP area passed about 996 premises and the company has connected about 350 customers so far; fiber‑to‑the‑premises installation work continued during the week of the meeting. Adcock also described a separate USDA Reconnect project with a $2.8 million budget that will pass roughly 1,000 additional premises and begin construction Jan. 27 with expected completion around July 2025.
William Bradford, representing United Communications (the broadband arm of the Middle Tennessee Electric cooperative group), said United has invested more than $16 million in Wilson County broadband infrastructure and has brought service to roughly 11,000 homes and businesses to date. Bradford summarized “Project Unite,” a county partnership in which United and the county split a $3 million program (50/50 reimbursement model); he told commissioners the outside‑plant construction is complete, the program is under budget and installs and customer conversions are ongoing. United’s contract for county ARP reimbursements runs through December 2026, Bradford said.
Both providers noted many premises passed by the projects were previously unserved. Adcock highlighted a household example in the Shop Springs community that received fixed broadband only after the ARP project; Bradford said about 2,000 of United’s 11,000 connections were for locations that had never had Internet service before. Both companies described mixed delivery models — buried service entrances in most locations with fiber attached to utility poles for the rest — and encouraged residents to contact the providers to schedule installs.
Commissioners and staff asked technical and schedule questions; Adcock and Bradford offered contact information and said they would continue connecting customers as residents call.
Clarifying details from provider presentations are available in planning and grant files held by the county and the providers.
