Habersham EMC (HEMC) has reached an agreement with North Georgia Network (NGN) Connect to serve wireless customers in Habersham and White counties. The agreement affects existing customers, mostly located within the city limits of Baldwin, Clarkesville, Cornelia and Demorest, who were previously served by Appalachian Broadband Technologies (ABT).
ABT was bought out by NGN earlier this year.
HEMC spokeswoman Nicole Dover says, “We’re going to provide service using the equipment ABT had installed within those cities.”
A press release issued by the Clarkesville-based cooperative states, “Since HEMC built the infrastructure to serve these broadcast points, we are familiar with the system and (are) committed to providing quality wireless Internet service.” The release goes on to say HEMC does not plan to change the speed or rate customers had with NGN Connect.
“We feel this is a great service and are proud to provide wireless internet for our communities,” says HEMC President and CEO Jonathan Cantrell.
The cooperative does not plan to market the service in new areas until late 2016 or early 2017.
DSL service to end
Meanwhile, HEMC is discontinuing its DSL internet service. The cooperative announced in October it will stop providing the service effective December 31, 2015.
The move affects some 400 customers.
At the time of the announcement Cantrell said, “We apologize for any inconvenience this decision may cause, but the DSL service was no longer financially viable.”
HEMC customer service representatives are available to assist subscribers who need help transitioning to another provider. They can be reached by calling (706)754-2114, (706)865-4362 or (800)640-6812.
The DSL change does not affect HEMC’s 2,000 Trail Wave fiber optic customers.
(Photo: habershamemc.com)
