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Charter/Spectrum updates Mason County leaders on fiber rollout; permitting cited as key bottleneck
Summary
Charter/Spectrum told Mason County leaders it has activated two OLT areas and is building five more as part of a project to serve more than 4,800 homes and businesses; company representatives said pole‑permitting delays and occasional railroad permits are the biggest obstacles to a faster completion timeline.
Charter/Spectrum representative Ben Nacelis told the Mason County Fiscal Court on June 11 that the company's countywide fiber build is underway and that residents in some areas already have access to service. “We have activated our first two of those [OLT areas],” Nacelis said, adding that those two areas account for roughly 375 homes.
Nacelis described the build as divided into about 34 OLT boundaries across the county and the city, with five additional OLT areas under active construction. He said the project is designed to reach “well over 4,800 homes and businesses across the county.” He attributed much of the project’s delay to pole‑permitting processes with utilities and third‑party pole owners, saying the faster the county and pole owners process permits, “the quicker the rest of this is gonna get built.”
On timing, Nacelis said the company expects to have about 80% of the work complete by the end of the year in a best‑case scenario and hopes the full build will be wrapped within a year, but cautioned that that estimate is contingent on permits and occasional railroad approvals that can take much longer in some places. He described an example from another county where a railroad permit stalled progress for months.
Court members asked about customer outreach; Nacelis said the company relies primarily on mailers and flyers and will deploy door‑to‑door teams selectively if response rates are low. He also said the firm will share maps with county staff showing activated (green), working (yellow) and permit‑pending (orange) OLT boundaries so officials can track progress.
County staff and the court discussed downtown conduit access, interagency coordination and state BEAD funds as potential augmenting resources. Nacelis said some of the project is funded through federal programs and some through a county/city partnership, and he thanked county leaders for early cooperation.
The court did not take any formal action on the update; staff said they would continue to coordinate monthly on permitting and construction progress.
