CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – Companies that are working to install fiber to give more southern Carolinos access to broadband internet face a deadline this week that some may fail to meet.
It has been nine months since many were sent home because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The parents were working at home. The students began to take their classes virtually. At this point, people are essentially used to our new normal, but for tens of thousands of South Carolinaians, the lack of access to high-speed broadband internet is a major obstacle.
Shemika Holmes lives in a rural part of Georgetown County and, since the pandemic, her four children have attended classes in the comfort of their own rooms. But, there is a problem that they face every month.
“We have satellite internet available to us, but it is not consistent,” says Holmes.
She says that satellite internet is the only thing available to them because of where they live. But in addition to being expensive, there is a limited amount of data for them.
“With children going to school online it is not consistent with them because sometimes, if it rains, they are unable to enter. If we don’t have more gigabytes, they won’t be able to enter. “
And she says it is frustrating.
“My children are being absent all the time,” says Holmes. “In fact, I received a letter in the mail saying that my daughter had been absent from school for many days. She is going to school. But if the internet is not connected when she is trying to log in, and they call, she is marked as absent because she is trying to log on to the school’s website. “
Holmes explains that their data distribution lasts only about two weeks a month.
Unfortunately, Holmes’ story is one of thousands we have heard since the pandemic began. According to state authorities, there are more than 108,000 homes and businesses that do not have access to broadband internet.
“We would not accept or expect to find a neighborhood with only half the people receiving electricity or only half the people having water and sewage services,” said Nanette Edwards, Executive Director of the Office of Regulatory Officials. “So now, with where we are with broadband and the needs we have with telehealth, remote work and distance learning, people are seeing broadband as a necessity.”
A race against the clock
Since the CARES Act Funding became available, ORS employees have been working 24 hours a day with broadband companies to install fiber.
Edwards says the federal funding is due until December 30. Therefore, all broadband infrastructure projects must be completed by then.
Among the 14 companies that applied, they were expected to bring broadband internet to around 28,000 households. However, some of the companies may not be able to finish on time.
“There are problems with the fiber supply,” says Edwards. “We all know that construction projects can have last-minute problems. I don’t have a firm number yet. But I think that up to $ 7 million of the $ 26.4 million may not be completed ”.
For companies that complete their projects by the 30th, 50 percent of the cost will be covered by the CARES Act Funding. For companies that do not, they are no longer eligible for financing and the total cost of the project is out of pocket.
One company that managed to finish was Home Telecom, which installed fiber in rural Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
“Broadband is still seen as a luxury and not a necessity and that is the kind of mindset that we have to overcome”, says Home Telecom CEO William Helmly. “I think that is what COVID did for us, it was letting us realize that it is not really a luxury now, it is something necessary to survive.”
This same thought process has been what thousands of people are trying to convey.
“With the situation happening with the pandemic, and the children having to stay at home to do the internet, this should be something that should be worked out on a budget to allow us, the people who suffer from the same problem, to allow ourselves to have internet, ”says Holmes.
We are one step closer to the final goal. The FCC has granted the state of South Carolina $ 121 million in rural broadband financing in recent weeks.
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