High-speed fiber internet for rural Walthall getting closer

Brent Woods, project engineer

Indoor plumbing, radio, electricity, telephones, television. In the not so distant past these were considered as luxuries in many households, although now they are viewed as necessities.
Today internet access is considered necessary in business, government, education and in one’s personal life, as well.
Rural residents have been left behind when it comes to broad-band internet access. But that’s about to change.
Conexon Connect, through an agreement with Magnolia Electric Power, is in the process of stringing fiber optic lines throughout Walthall County and either areas served by MEP.
Brent Woods, a native of Greenville, who now resides in Madison, is project manager for Conexon Fiber, told Rotarians last week that Walthall County is divided into two segments for the system build. One segment involves the Salem area and north Walthall and runs to Progress. The other side of the build is Tylertown, Dexter and so on.
Woods told Rotarians his area of expertise is in constructing the system, getting it up and running so people with specific questions about when service will start, cost and so on would need to contact Conexon Connect for information.
He did not that Conexon’s fiber is extremely fast, and in rural areas where Conexon has constructed systems, rural customers report faster speeds than city dwellers in those same counties.
Woods says they run the main high speed lines to the substations, and the fiber lines will branch from there into the service areas, following MEP lines, mostly hanging on MEP utility poles, or, in some cases, if the MEP line is underground, the fiber cable follows suit.
Engineering crews started the process by mapping the system, followed by others in December and January, stringing the carrier cables, the cables to which the fiber option lines will be attached.
Woods says the build is progressing quickly, with crews covering about 25 miles a day. He said they’ll probably increase the daily mileage as the project goes along. He said they’ve had some delays, but hope to see the project becoming operational in the near future.
Woods says service will begin in phases throughout the county. Once the fiber line is up, it is fed with a light which carries the broadband signal. Crews will have to splice the lines, then splice in the “drop” to service customers.
The Magnolia Electric project is a first for Conexon. The company has been involved in building systems in the Delta, but this is the first time the company has branched out as an internet provider through Conexon Connect.
Splicing of the fiber cables is expected sometime in May.
Woods says people interested in obtaining rural broadband through Conexon Connect will have ample opportunity to sign up for the service. He says the company has addresses of MEP customers and they will be kept abreast of what’s happening and when to expect the availability of service.
Meantime. Lucy Shell of MEP, says updates appear on the Magnolias Electric Facebook page.