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Innovative broadband project provides scalable model to connect South Carolina’s rural communities
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Dominion Energy is working to help close the digital divide across South Carolina.Take a leisurely drive across rural South Carolina, and you’re likely to understand why it might be difficult for some residents to feel connected.
Shady, two-lane back roads carved through the dense canopies of moss-draped live oaks slowly give rise to wide-open expanses of farmland and the occasional solitary stop sign. For even the closest of neighbors, the distance can be daunting. Along the horizon, your eye might catch a glimmer of sunlight as it shimmers off a singular monument to 20th century technology. A broadcast tower stands alone in the distance.
On a breezy spring day, deep in the shadow of a few dozen towering pines, Dominion Energy and a host of state, local and private partners gathered to celebrate a first-of-its-kind broadband project designed to connect this community to the 21st century — and help rural South Carolina take a much-needed first step across the digital divide.
More than 200 community members and project stakeholders joined U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., at the University of South Carolina Salkehatchie campus in Allendale to celebrate the rapid development of Wi-Fi access to 1,000 homes in 60 days where no access existed before. Three internet access points were made possible by utilizing existing vertical assets throughout the community — including SCETV broadcast towers. The project is one of the first such deployments in the nation.
Spearheaded by the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff (ORS) with funding secured by Clyburn, the project represents a true team effort across the community. Local Dominion Energy employees jumped at the chance to lend a hand and deliver the power needed to make this virtual connection a reality.
Kissam added, “It warms our hearts to put our energy to work by serving children in this way when the need is greater than ever.”
Clyburn, who serves as a tireless advocate for education and reliable internet access in rural areas, ultimately secured funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Partnered with a variety of organizations, the ORS was able to launch the project in under a year during a pandemic. ORS Executive Director Nanette Edwards echoed the dedication and spirit of teamwork she attributes to the project’s rapid success.
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