Telecom
Broadband by Popular Demand
Broadband is coming to some rural Missouri homes because members asked their electric cooperative for it and the co-op listened.
Crews prepare to install Co-Mo’s fiber optic lines. (Photo By: Co-Mo EC)
Co-Mo Electric Cooperative is just weeks away from bringing the first subscribers online. They are part of a pilot project that could eventually expand to its entire 2,300-square-mile service territory.
Randy Klindt, information technology manager at the Tipton-based co-op, said Co-Mo Connect was member-driven from the start.
“I don’t know if they saw other co-ops doing this, or had friends and relatives living somewhere where they were served by a co-op, but calls started to come in, asking if we were ever planning on doing it,” Klindt said.
Co-Mo surveyed the membership in 2009 and discovered that only about 19 percent had broadband access, less than half the rural average. That led the co-op to apply for a stimulus grant, during which time it asked to hear from interested members.
“We had hundreds and hundreds of letters sent in to support the grant application,” Klindt said, recalling stories from students who couldn’t take online courses, and people who couldn’t work from home.
Co-Mo didn’t get a grant, but, “We were left with boxes of letters from our members saying they had a need and wanted us to do something about it,” Klindt said. “That’s how we came up with our pilot program.”
A financial model was developed, and Co-Mo identified two areas, covering about 100 miles, that it would use for a demonstration project. The board agreed to vote in favor if enough members could be signed up in advance to support the financial model.
The fiber is tied to the messenger wire in a process known as “lashing.” (Photo By: Co-Mo EC)
Using direct mail, yard signs, community meetings, a door-to-door campaign and even a Facebook page, the co-op rallied members in the test areas to leave a $100 deposit and commit to a year of broadband.
A contractor is installing fiber optic lines along Co-Mo’s lines, and about 8-10 miles is complete. In early December, the first members will be able to experience high-speed Internet.
Just how desperately do they want the service?
“We had a farmer that we couldn’t get to because he still had his crops in. He took his combine out and combined a strip right underneath our power lines so the guys could get in and build it.”
Klindt said Co-Mo fully anticipates the pilot will be a success, and expects to eventually bring Co-Mo Connect to all members. It’s been a lot of work, but Klindt called the experience “rewarding.”
“The phone calls, the emails, the Facebook posts, the people so excited to be in the pilot—and the people disappointed not to be.”