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County executive: broadband grants have passed roughly 800 homes; commissioners press on remaining gaps
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Summary
At the April 21 Rhea County Commission meeting, County Executive Jim Benson updated the panel on broadband expansion—saying grant-funded work covers about 799–800 home passings—and answered commissioners’ questions about remaining unserved homes and per-home connection costs.
County Executive Jim Benson told the Rhea County Commission on April 21 that recent grant-funded broadband work has substantially expanded local service, bringing the county from about 600 initial "passes" to roughly 799–800 homes covered.
"We got 799 as you see. You know, 800 homes that were in January for any grant money that we were able to cover," Benson said, describing the county rollout and saying the county will continue building fiber from its own funds where feasible. Benson also referenced a larger statewide program, saying about $96,000,000 covered roughly 76,000 passes across Tennessee.
Commissioners pressed for details about homes that remained without service and the cost to connect individual residences. Benson said the homes on the original grant list were built under the program but acknowledged there remain addresses without service. He offered to follow up on specific constituent locations provided by commissioners.
On cost, commissioners and the presenter described a wide range of figures depending on distance and site conditions. "It can be considerably higher than $3,000," one commissioner observed. The transcript also referenced a per-mile build cost of about $32,000; officials described per-residence connection costs as dependent on how far a service line must run and on other local factors.
The county did not present a single fixed per-home subsidy in the meeting; commissioners were directed to provide addresses so staff can check whether those properties are included in existing passings or would require additional construction and associated costs.
The update concluded with a county offer to research specific addresses (Smyrna Road and Highway 27 were named during the meeting) and to report back with whether those locations are covered and what the estimated connection costs would be.
What’s next: commissioners asked staff to check named addresses and return with follow-up information on outreach and estimated connection costs for residents still lacking service.
