Ohio TT, Agile Networks working together on Coshocton broadband project
COSHOCTON − Despite a recent slowdown Ohio TT is still on track to finish the $5 million broadband project with Coshocton County Commissioners by end of the year, thanks to a new partnership with Agile Networks.
In March, Ohio Transparent Telecom of Zanesville started phase two of the project focused on building new towers to close coverage gaps. Phase one was placing equipment on existing towers. Once finished, Ohio TT should cover about 36,900 residents with 18 sites.
New builds will be south of West Lafayette and County Road 159, the area of County Roads 55 and 23, Keene, Chili and Ohio 93 north of Fresno, Tiverton, New Guilford and Bakersville. Additionally, three other towers will be erected near MARCS towers where equipment couldn't be co-located as originally hoped.
It was thought the first new build would occur in June, but Kyle Yoder of Ohio TT said that will probably not happen in early July. However, that doesn't throw off the overall timeline as Yoder believes the installations and going live with service should be faster than originally projected due to having more personnel for work from Agile Networks. Yoder said getting Agile on board and forming work teams held them up.
"While we got that team oriented with the Ohio TT project it cost a little bit of time, but that's okay, because now we have a big team of resources to help us catch back up in July. We're going to be back on track and finished by the end of the year," Yoder said.
The Canton-based Agile Networks has a decade long history of designing and operating connectivity networks across Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Agile CEO Kyle Quillen was part of an update meeting with commissioners and actually worked with the county on an initial broadband project almost 15 years ago that some customers are still using.
Quillen said Agile had worked with Ohio TT on some other projects. Knowing what they were doing in Coshocton County, it tied in well to its Digital Access Ohio program in conjunction with JobsOhio.
"We saw the synergy between the two and what we could do to help accelerate (the Coshocton project) and what they could do to help accelerate some of the stuff we're doing," Quillen said. "Rather than building two duplicative systems in the same area, let's go ahead and joins forces and see if we can maximize the potential."
Commissioner Dane Shryock said Coshocton County has been underserved for many years where it comes to internet access. Along with commissioners addressing the issue with American Recovery Plan Act funding, he believes the Ohio TT project is encouraging other providers, like AT&T and Spectrum, to look at Coshocton County too.
Additionally, with people moving into the area because of the Intel plant being built in Licking County, Shryock said the western end of the county is getting a lot of notice. However, water and internet access are the main barriers to new builds or new residents in the area.
"There's a relocation of population and people wanting to find places to live on two acres or five acres in the country, but they need water and they need broadband. The western end of Coshocton County appears to be relatively attractive except for those two issues," Shryock said.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with more than 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Ohio TT, Agile Networks working together on Coshocton broadband
