Thanks to a partnership between Alexander County and Open Broadband, more than 400 local homes and businesses in the county now have high-speed internet service. Alan Fitzpatrick, CEO of Open Broadband, presented a final update to the Alexander County Board of Commissioners at the October 16 meeting as the partnership has concluded.

Commissioners approved the agreement with Open Broadband in February 2021, with a combined total investment of approximately $582,000, to provide internet service to underserved and unserved areas of the county.

Fitzpatrick said the original goal was the provide internet speeds of 25 megabits per second download and three megabits per second upload, but all activated accounts have exceeded that goal in Alexander County. He said that while the official partnership has now ended, his company will continue to upgrade equipment and expand service in the county.

Open Broadband has fixed-wireless equipment on existing towers on Linney’s Mountain and in the Ellendale and Stony Point communities. They also installed a tower on Roundtop Mountain and All Uphill Drive, in addition to 24 hub locations which distribute the wireless signal to more customers.

Fitzpatrick said there is some new technology that will significantly boost internet speeds for their customers, beginning in Stony Point. For more information about Open Broadband, visit www.openbb.net/alexanderco or call (980) 246-8989.

[News release courtesy of Gary Herman, Alexander County Public Information Officer]