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Tuesday, October 28, 2008 10:44 AM Bailey getting wireless broadband Internet with water tower connection Bailey water tower connection is Nash's first step toward providing wireless broadband Internet to rural areas By Antonio Velarde | Times Staff Writer BAILEY - The town will be getting wireless Internet in the coming weeks, with other Nash County areas to possibly follow. After an independent study in 2007 found several Nash County communities were being underserved by broadband Internet providers, the county is working with a local business on the first step toward changing that by installing a wireless connection via the Nash Street water tower in Bailey. Computer Central of Wilson, which has provided wireless Internet to several underserved Wilson County communities, will install wireless radio equipment on the tower, extending an existing connection it installed earlier at Buckhorn Reservoir tower in Wilson County. Danny Mooring, IT manager for Computer Central, said the plan is to extend services to the Middlesex and Spring Hope areas next. "We're starting here, but we're hoping to spread out and get farther into Nash County," Mooring said. Mooring said the Bailey connection will likely extend 4 miles at a standard 512kb speed and won't be as fast as DSL or cable connections, but it will be a welcome option for many in the area with access to only dial-up Internet. "Out in the county, you still don't have a lot of choices," he said. The connection will serve people around Bailey without a normal connection. The connection will be available in a few weeks, and the company is taking names of interested area customers, who can call Computer Central at 243-1398. The company's standard fee is $44.95 a month for a 512kb connection, though the company wants to make the connection affordable for Bailey customers, said Computer Central office manager Tina Mooring. Alton Vick, technology director for the county, said the county had Uptown Services, LLC do a broadband Internet study in 2007. The study found eight small towns and communities in the county were being underserved by Internet providers. Bailey, Middlesex, Spring Hope, Momeyer, Castalia, Whitakers, Dortches and Red Oak were all found to have limited access. "That basically proved to us what we already knew anyway," Vick said. Vick said after the study was done, the county solicited companies that wanted to help it provide Internet to the county, beginning in the southern Nash County area, which is not far from other areas in Wilson County that Computer Central has wired. He said the county is paying for Global Tank and Tower to put wireless mounting equipment on the tower for the radio, which was completed last week, and Computer Central is paying for the wireless Internet radio connection. Vick said using fiber-optic cable is the ideal way to provide broadband Internet, which is any Internet connection above 128 kb in speed, including DSL and cable connections. But many companies such as Embarq or Time Warner Cable won't put lines in difficult-to-access rural areas, which is why many parts of the county are underserved, Vick said. Some areas in rural Nash County are spotty, with a possibility for broadband connection on one road but not on another. He said he has tried to get grants through the e-NC Authority, which works to provide wireless broadband Internet to underserved areas in the state, though no grant money was available this year. The organization held a series of wireless Internet summits throughout the area earlier this year. The county, which is paying $6,700 for the mounting equipment for the Bailey tower, will fund each additional connection after seeing what customer response is to the Bailey wireless connection. The county is doing this without grant or other outside funding. Plans have not been set in stone for the possible future connection in Spring Hope, Middlesex or elsewhere, said Danny Mooring, but the hope is to get Internet to where most have either dial-up or none. Vick acknowledged the connection might not be as convenient as cable or DSL, but it's a big step for the area. "And it may be slow, but it's a start," he said. avelarde@wilsontimes.com | 265-7868 |
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