When Brad Hicks moved to northeast Georgia in 2017 he says it was the first time in twenty years that he moved somewhere without access to high-speed internet.
Hicks, the president and CEO of Habersham EMC, came to understand what most rural Georgians have known for a long time, high-speed internet is not a “gift” it’s a “necessity.”
That understanding, fueled by new legislation and funding opportunities, propelled Hicks and the HEMC Board of Directors to develop a strategy to expand the co-op’s Trailwave Fiber Optic Services.
“When I arrived just under two years ago there was not a real clear plan of how we’re going to expand,” Hicks said during a recent interview with WRWH Radio in Cleveland. “We have solidified that and now we are actively going out and working with our members, people in our communities, trying to get as many people signed up as we can.”
Making it affordable is a key part of their strategy.
“Our philosophy in the past about you have to pay the full installation cost, we’ve really rethought that and where we can get service to you as a member affordably, we want to do that,” Hicks says.
Hicks encourages members who live in locations near
New law made expansion possible
Hicks credits local lawmakers, including State Rep. Terry Rogers (R-Clarkesville) and Senators John Wilkinson (R-Toccoa) and Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) with helping to pass bipartisan legislation giving electric membership corporations (EMCs) statutory authority to provide internet service.
Senate Bill 2 passed during the 2019 legislative session with near-unanimous support.
Wilkinson and Gooch sponsored the bill along with other members of a joint legislative study committee that spent over two years examining how to deliver high-speed internet to rural Georgians.
“Our board did approve a business plan prior to this legislation being passed,” Hicks says. Now the local co-op is looking at different ways to pay for it including, possibly, grants. Georgia law prohibits EMCs from using natural gas and electric service receipts to subsidize broadband activities. “Trailwave Fiber is a stand-alone business and we’re operating it that way,” Hicks says.
Trailwave Fiber added over 2,000 new customers last year and now has just under 4,500 customers. Hicks says 98% of those are residential accounts. They hope to more than double their internet customer base within the next three years.
HEMC is also looking at possibly expanding into other areas, as well.
“We are actually right now evaluating some options for video and telephony service,” Hicks says. “We have not got board approval yet, but we have introduced the idea and we’re hoping that we could possibly have something the first quarter of 2020.”
If approved, HEMC could offer its members bundle services like other area internet and telecommunication service providers do.
Annual meeting
HEMC members who want to learn more about the co-op’s current status and future plans are encouraged to attend this year’s annual meeting. It will be held on Thursday, July 18, at Habersham Ninth Grade Academy in Mt. Airy. Registration and the election of board members begin at 3 p.m.
Members will vote to fill three seats, one in the East District currently held by David Wall of Clarkesville, and two in the West District currently held by Dustin Hulsey of Cleveland and Dan Thurmond of Sautee. Their terms expire on July 18. All three are running again.
Other East District nominees include Hugh Rucker of Clarkesville and Teresa Shirley of Mt. Airy. Raymond (Tim) Kinsey of Cleveland hopes to pick up one of the West District seats.
As usual, there will be a free meal, activities for the kids, live entertainment, and door prizes awarded during the meeting.
To hear Hicks’ full interview with Dean Dyer of WRWH Radio click on the YouTube link below.
