Water Towers Provide Infrastructure Backbone for ISP

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Eastern Shore Communications has secured a deal with the Elizabeth City Council to install infrastructure on water towers, hoping to bring low-cost internet service to the area, which should have been in place in September, reported the Daily Advance. According to Scott Sledge, Eastern Shore’s director of business development, the delays are due to the company’s commitment to making additional network improvements to reduce customers’ risk of losing service. “We wanted to do it the right way,” said Sledge of the service delays.

As part of the build-out, Elizabeth City commissioners recently approved spending $21,217 to have network provider MCNC run a fiber optic line to the water tower; part of the internet service will rely on fiber. The county will also pay about $3,600 a year in licensing fees.   

City officials hope that Eastern Shore’s service can offer fast, low-cost internet to city residents and businesses while providing some competition in the marketplace. Regarding cost, Sledge confirmed that Eastern Shore’s residential internet packages will range between $20 to $50 per month, with speeds varying from 10 to 50 Megabits-per-second.

The deal allows Eastern Shore the use of the city’s water towers to install infrastructure and provide internet service in exchange for a share of revenues once sales start. Neighboring area Pasquotank’s Commerce Park struck a similar deal with Eastern Shore, with service expected to be up and running in the first quarter of 2018, noted Sledge.

October 24, 2017

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