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River Street Networks reports fiber build progress in Charlotte County; take rates at about 16%
Summary
River Street Networks told the board it has installed about 388 miles of fiber in Charlotte County, passed roughly 3,800 locations and reached a take rate of about 16%; staff discussed construction sequencing, testing, marketing and an expected completion window for parts of the county next year.
Rob Taylor, representing River Street Networks, updated the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors on the broadband build financed under county and partner programs.
Taylor reported fiber installed rose from 280 to 388 miles since his July update and locations passed increased from about 1,800 to 3,800. Installed customers rose from 82 to 321, with approximately 21 additional locations in progress. He characterized the current take rate for passed locations at roughly 16% and said the project's long‑term goal is to reach 40–60% in rural communities once construction is complete.
Taylor outlined the standard sequence used on the project: permits, construction (installation of fiber in the ground), splicing, testing and turnover to operations, at which point marketing and direct customer appointments begin. He also described outreach and sign‑up events (including a listed courthouse town‑hall and a planned December sign‑up event) and pointed the public to myriverstreet.net for a searchable map and sign-up tools. Taylor noted certain localized schedule differences (for example, Wyliesburg areas) and said state and vendor timelines have the project completed countywide by the end of next year, with some pockets potentially finished in the second quarter.
Supervisors asked about Hurricane impacts and pricing; Taylor said most contractors remained on site, one splicer was briefly redeployed, and the vendor offers a low-income plan tied to Lifeline eligibility (listed around $65) though some prior lower‑tier products were removed after the FCC changed broadband definitions and labeling rules.
Next steps: staff and River Street will reconcile published timelines and engineering schedules for particular communities and continue consumer outreach and sign-up events.
