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Congressman "Lights" Up Nickelsville Fiber Network

Lisa Watson McCarty
Publisher

With the official “lighting” of the Nickelsville Fiber Optic Network, town officials are hoping the new service will lead to new business prospects and economic development in their community.


Nickelsville Vice-Mayor Danny Dixon
discusses potential opportunities at the
opening of the Computer Connection Building
in Nickelsville with Rep. Rick Boucher.

On Friday, Scott County Telephone Cooperative officials joined local chamber representatives, business owners, state legislators and Nickelsville residents to mark a special grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the SCTC Community Connect Building in Nickelsville with Ninth District Congressman Rick Boucher on hand to offer congratulations.

“I am pleased to join this morning with officials from Scott County and the Scott County Telephone Cooperative to participate in a truly worthy celebration,” explained Boucher. “Today, we formally light the new Nickelsville Fiber Optic Network, a project which will enable the provision of broadband services, including affordable high-speed Internet access, digital television and telephone services, to households and businesses in the Town of Nickelsville and the surrounding areas. In addition, a new public Internet access site connected to the fiber optic network has been established here at the Nickelsville Community Center.”

Last August, Boucher helped to turn on the Duffield Fiber Optic Network, which received a federal grant of $500,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development agency along with some local funding from SCTC.

The new center in Nickelsville provides free public access computers with fast broadband connections to local residents during specific hours of operation. But the importance of the new fiber network far outweighs its benefits to local residents. The availability of fast broadband helps to level the economic development playing field by allowing rural communities like Scott County to offer the same services as those in larger areas.

Boucher said that the introduction of the fiber optic network helps to draw small companies to rural areas like Nickelsville.

“There are a lot of companies around the United States which would like to move to a place like Nickelsville,” he explained. “The quality of life is excellent here. We have a low cost of doing business. Land doesn’t cost as much. Taxes are lower. Electric service tends not to cost as much, and the telephone service is great.

“Most attractive of all, we have a work force which is second to none. The one thing that enables all these things to work for us is the presence of broadband. (SCTC) is preparing the residents of this community for the challenges of the 21st century.”

Friday’s ceremony was the symbolic ending to a long process of bringing fiber to the homes and businesses in the Nickelsville area. The project was fueled by a $587,000 federal grant, secured from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Agency, and more than $500,000 from the Telephone Cooperative, SCTC has installed nearly 22 miles of fiber optic cable over the "last mile" from its Internet backbone to the homes and businesses in the Town of Nickelsville.

The telephone cooperative has deployed fiber optics to the premises of 392 homes and 34 businesses in the Nickelsville area including Nickelsville Elementary School, Nickelsville Community Clinic, the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department and the Community Center.

For the Duffield project, SCTC installed nearly 30 miles of fiber optic cable over the "last mile" from its Internet backbone to the homes and businesses in the old Town of Duffield, Thomas Village and the Duffield Industrial Park. They plan to expand their fiber optic network into other areas of the county. An additional $11 million in federal funding is being used to deploy DSL Internet service in Clinchport, Dungannon, Fort Blackmore, the Williams Mill area of Gate City and the surrounding areas of the county.

Boucher stated about 10 years ago he encouraged local governments throughout the Ninth District to find a means of deploying broadband networks so that affordable high-speed Internet access would be available to businesses and residents throughout our region.

“My goal in making this recommendation was to set our region apart in comparison to other rural areas of the nation, to make us more attractive than the typical rural region to industries looking to expand their operations into new locations and to create technology-based jobs for Southwest Virginians,” he explained. “Today, I am pleased to note that many of the communities in our region are making great strides in the deployment of broadband networks, and the success which we celebrate today in Nickelsville is a shining example of the outstanding work that is being done in many of our localities.”

Although SCTC celebrated the new fiber optic network, a little more work must be complete before all customers are brought online. Splicing and testing of the new network will be done within approximately three weeks. Broadband Internet services are now available to residents in parts of the town, and television and telephone services are expected to be available in the near future.

Not only will blazing fast internet speed be available to Nickelsville customers but SCTC is offering a variety of Internet, telephone and television packages which includes video on demand, music and movie channel options and much more.

A portion of the federal grant funds have been used to establish the computer laboratory and public Internet access site at the Nickelsville Community Center. The new 2,400-square-foot building located at 437 School Street features 10 computer workstations.

The lab will be staffed by a SCTC employee who will offer basic computer assistance to users of the access site. The new computer lab officially opened to the public yesterday and will be open Monday through Friday from 1 to 7 p.m. Weekend use will be available by appointment.

The cooperative also plans to accept payments for telephone and cable services at their Nickelsville computer center.

Basic computer classes are being taught through Mountain Empire Community College’s Workforce Development Center at both public computer centers hosted by SCTC. Day and night classes at the Nickelsville site are planned for Sept. 19, 21, 26 and 28, from 9 a.m. to noon and again from 6 to 9 p.m.

The hands-on classes consist of four modules of technology skills: general computing concepts, word processing concepts, Internet concepts and spreadsheets.

Classes are also planned for the SCTC Computer Center at the Pioneer Center in Duffield. To register for a computer class, call (276) 523-7477.

Bill Franklin, Executive Vice President and Manager of Scott County Telephone Cooperative, thanked members of his board of directors for helping the company move into the 21st century.

“We are indebted to Congressman Boucher to helping us get these two federal grants,” Franklin stated “The investment and vision of our board of directors was also invaluable in completing these projects which will rival any system in the United States. We have done this project to create jobs, entice residents to move to Scott County and to stimulate economic development for the good of the county.”

Nickelsville Vice-Mayor Danny Dixon said the new fiber optic network was an exciting opportunity for the town.

“It is now our responsibility to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity,” Dixon commented. “We need to share creative ideas in the months ahead.”

The Nickelsville Computer Center will also be the place where county students can take online classes for college credit from local and state colleges.

“Just as first canals, then railroads and then highways were the major arteries of commerce in earlier eras, in the 21st Century, access to broadband will be a defining feature of economic success for rural communities,” Boucher concluded. “Step by positive step our expanding fiber optic infrastructure is assuring that Southwest Virginia's communities will be at the center of economic opportunity.

 “These steps are preparing Nickelsville for the economy of the 21st century. In earlier eras of American history, the corridors of economic progress were marked by certain pathways — first canals, and then railroads, then it became America’s system of highways. But in the economies of the 21st century, the corridors of economic success are going to be marked by the presence of broadband technology.”

For more information on available SCTC programs, call 452-8000.

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