The Pilot News - County Council will help with Metronet hookup

Already having a commitment for $850,000 of the 20 percent matching funds needed, the group — composed of Brent Martin of B.A. Martin Architects; Tom Turner, director of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation; Doug Anspach, director of PIDCO and the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce; and Curt Feece, president of Crossroads Academy and the Integration Group — were seeking a commitment of $92,000, should the grant money come through.
Grant money will be used to place the underground conduit necessary to bring fiber optic cable to the county. The conduit would then be the property of the county while the fiber would remain the property of the Metronet.
Feece explained to the Council that there had to be a distinct line between the part of the property that remained public and that which was private, as a result of court decisions in previous litigation. He also explained that such an arrangement left open the possibility of the County “leasing” conduit space to private interests.
As a result of their support, the county will also receive six fiber optic connections for their exclusive use, and the possibility existed of leasing one or more of those as well. The County needs one such hookup between the new jail and the Marshall County Courthouse in order to conduct video arraignment — an arrangement that would save the county $22,000 a year in prisoner transportation costs.
While applications for personal use of the connection are possible, the group wanted to make one thing specifically clear.
“This is not about the internet,” said Feece. “This is about connecting businesses that need massive amounts of band width to move massive amounts of data.”
The fiber makes it possible for businesses such as call centers to operate in the county, opening the economic doors to possibilities that don’t exist today.
“This would give us a real competitive advantage,” said Anspach. “A call center is the type of business that can create hundreds of jobs immediately.”
“This would allow us to move from an industrial-based economy to a knowledge-based one, which is the growth area right now,” said Turner.
While Plymouth is the only community that has commitments to fiber hookups immediately, the conduit would be laid to make it possible for all communities in the county to have fiber as soon as they have commitments from businesses wishing to do so. A business who would make a commitment to using the fiber could then hook up as soon as they desired.
The hospital and several businesses in Bremen have expressed an interest, as have Ancilla College and Culver Academies.
It is hoped that grant approval can be obtained by the end of September.