Rural Tennessee Sees Another Utility Venture into Fiber Marketplace

BROADBAND BREAKFAST INSIGHT: Another possible success story from Appalachia, where local utilities are stepping up to the plate and making fiber the new utility for middle America.

Morristown And Newport Buddy-Up For Broadband In Rural TN, from MuniNetworks.org

Morristown Utilities Commission (MUC) and Newport Utilities (NU) in Tennessee have taken the first monumental step in partnering to bring high-quality connectivity to NU customers. Both entities passed resolutions for an interlocal government agreement that will bring MUC’s FiberNET to Newport.

The plan will allow MUC to expand its “light services,” which includes FiberNET, to NU’s service area in several phases. The first phase will allow more than 8,000 potential subscribers, or 47 percent of Cocke County households, to obtain FiberNET services. Phase One is scheduled to be completed in 2017; the partners also expect to begin Phase Two construction during the second quarter.

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Source: Morristown And Newport Buddy-Up For Broadband In Rural TN | community broadband networks