The Vernon Parish Broadband Town Hall Meeting, which took place Wednesday, February 7, at East Leesville Elementary School was full of information on the expansion of internet services in Vernon Parish. Speakers from the major service providers, Optimun, Fastwire and Swyft Fiber, all spoke about their progress.
Veneeth Iyengar, with the Governor’s Office of Broadband, spoke about the $14.2 million of funding for this initial phase of the project. More funds are available, but they all have different timelines for their usage. The state has been very aggressive with federal money, and the project is moving faster than originally anticipated. Iyengar was lauded by State Representative Charles Owen for his interest and constant support of the project.
Leesville is the hub, and all internet goes through Leesville and out into the rural areas of Vernon Parish. Progress is ongoing with three service providers hustling to complete their projects. A progress report from the state level is due out at the end of March.
Swyft Fiber is investing $40 million, and their systems are completely underground. They will be connecting all 22 Vernon Parish schools. Their representative spoke on the levels of regulations they must go through, including the federal level due to their work on Ft. Johnson.
Optimum presently is the oldest service provider in the parish. They have spent several million dollars on upgrades in the past few years in anticipation of this initiative.
Fastwire, formerly Cameron Communications, serves Pitkin, Elizabeth and Sugartown with their expansion moving north into DeRidder, Rosepine, New Llano, and Leesville.
Several local mayors addressed concerns about safety and damage to infrastructure. Spokesmen for LA811 and DOTD urged safety and caution from the many contractor crews presently working in the Vernon Parish area. They both offer training in damage prevention for these crews.
Greater Vernon Chamber CEO Logan Morris summed it up by urging residents to show patience with the process. He quipped, “It will be a hard squeeze, but the squeeze will be worth the juice.”
Special thanks to Rep. Owen and Bill Lohman, Technical Director of the Vernon School Board, for the organization and facilitation of Wednesday’s meeting.