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Spectrum reports progress on Boyle County fiber build; about 500 homes activated so far
Summary
Spectrum told Boyle County Fiscal Court it has activated slightly more than 500 of about 2,300 homes targeted in the countywide fiber project and is largely through pole-permit approvals needed to continue construction.
Spectrum representative Ben Uselas updated the Boyle County Fiscal Court on the company's federally- and state-funded broadband build-out during the June 10 fiscal court meeting.
Uselas said Spectrum's project aims to bring fiber-to-the-home service to about 2,300 residences in Boyle County and that more than 500 homes have been activated so far. He described the permitting and pole-owner approval process as the project’s current bottleneck, saying Spectrum has completed design and submitted pole-make-ready requests for about 97–98% of poles and that roughly 85% of pole-owner work is now complete. He told the court the company expects large numbers of additional activations this summer as those approvals come back.
Uselas walked through maps showing three status colors: green for activated, yellow for currently under construction, and orange for areas waiting on remaining permits. He said each polygon on the map ties to a single network node that can be “lit” once construction for that node is complete, meaning neighborhoods can come online in phases rather than waiting for the entire project to finish. He said the company hopes to have much of the county completed by the end of the year, depending on how remaining permitting and pole work fall into place.
Court members asked whether some homes will remain unserved after this build. Uselas said there may be on the order of “maybe a hundred or so” remaining premises that are not cost-effective to reach by fiber; he said the state’s subsequent ‘‘Build Us’’ (BU) rounds aim to fill remaining holes, but that funding and program details at the federal level are still in flux. He also said Spectrum will work with the court and county staff to publish a list of roads and addresses that have been activated or are scheduled for activation.
On operations and maintenance, Uselas acknowledged that slack, coiled, or low-hanging wires sometimes appear during and after construction; he said Spectrum maintains a construction crew and a separate maintenance crew that addresses low-hanging or sagging lines reported by residents. He invited constituents to report issues and said the company will provide a shareable, regularly updated map and an activation list for the county to post on the county website.
No formal court action was taken on the broadband update; the presentation concluded with court members thanking Spectrum for the progress report.
