LREC continues fiber optic installs around area

Sara Serrano, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·2 min read

Oct. 12—HULBERT — Lake Region Electric Cooperative continues expanding its fiber optic network and has confirmed its plans to sunset television services.

Communication Specialist Larry Mattes provided an update this week on LREC's ongoing fiber optic installation.

"It is moving right along, maybe not as quickly as the members/customers waiting on this new fast internet would like," said Mattes. "We are continuing to build new fiber lines in Lowery, Peggs, Briggs, Welling, and Locust Grove until everyone with Lake Region Electric can access fast, reliable internet."

Mattes said fiber internet services are already available in Hulbert, Shady Grove, Lost City, Fort Gibson, Perk, Norwood, Woodall, Park Hill, Keys, Pettit Bay, and Burnt Cabin, and all around the outskirts of Tahlequah.

"We are working hard to bring up the Peggs and Lowery zones, and we expect these to be ready for in-home installations from late November to early December," he said.

Mattes said several factors come into play for building and bringing online a new fiber zone.

"With the winter months approaching, we can have bad weather, which can delay construction, contractor crews' efficiency, fiber testing, and material shipping delays," he said.

After Peggs and Lowery, LREC expects to move right into finishing and completing the Welling and Briggs zones by early 2023.

"We are seeing several customers signing up weekly for new internet in new and older zones, everything from new houses being built and new businesses to homeowners ready to make the switch and connect to Lake Region Fiber," he said.

Glen Clark, director of marketing and member services, told the Tahlequah Daily Press in July that LREC would no longer be offering television to new customers and will be sunsetting services for existing ones due to the loss of a vendor and aging ground satellites.

Mattes confirmed this is still the case.

"We are still looking to sunset our linear TV service toward the end of the year or early next year. We will continue to support our active TV subscribers as long as we can with the equipment we have," said Mattes. "We encourage our customers to educate themselves on all the available live-streaming TV services. There will come a time when our TV set-top boxes are no longer supported and will no longer work."

Mattes said LREC appreciates everyone's patience as they continue to build new fiber zones and expand service area.

"We are building a reliable fiber network for the future of internet demand," he said.