Fiber-optic internet still in the works by WRVEC

White River Valley Electric Cooperative is moving forward with a plan to bring high speed fiber optic internet to its service area, which includes most of Ozark County.

The cooperative held a meeting with member county representatives on Feb. 18 at Branson and shared results of an online survey they did to gauge interest in the proposal.

It was probably no surprise that over 90 percent of the more than 7,500 people surveyed by WRVEC supported the cooperative installing high speed fiber optic internet in their area.

As they say, the devil’s in the details, and the details are what is being ironed out as the plan moves forward.

For WRVEC, it means the largest investment since the co-op was established. The total cost of the project is an estimated $232 million on a five-year build, with most of the customers getting service within three years. So WRVEC plans to use federal and state monies, but is also asking for local contributions from the five counties it serves, Ozark, Christian, Douglas, Taney and Stone counties. The co-op is hoping the counties use a portion of their ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to help build the fiber-optic network.

WRVEC has asked for approximately $10 million total from the five counties, which would include about $1.5 million from Ozark County. Ozark County Commissioners John Turner, Gary Collins and Layne Nance said they would be open to the county possibly contributing up to $1 million, if other counties also contribute. Commissioners have already spent or allocated nearly $500,000 of the $1.8 million in ARPA money coming to Ozark County. The county received $891,764 in 2021 and is set to receive $890,000 in 2022.

The amount requested from Ozark County is the lowest amount of the five counties that WRVEC serves; however, it looks like one county will not contribute any money.

“We just can’t right now,” said Douglas County district 2 commissioner Brad Lovelace.

Lovelace told the Times that WRVEC asked Douglas County to contribute $2.4 million of its ARPA funds. “We’re only getting $2.2 million and we’ve already spent half of that on the courthouse,” Lovelace said. The commissioner said that they are spending over a $1 million to make improvements to the courthouse which include a new central heat and air system.

“Our courthouse has never had (central) air conditioning, so when this money came available we saw it as an opportunity to get it done,” Lovelace said. “Also the roof is about to fall in on the courthouse so we’re going to have to probably spend money on that too,” he added.

Lovelace said Douglas County has offered to do “whatever else” they can do to support WRVEC’s broadband initiative. “There’s some things going on, and we feel that the state will step in and foot most of this bill … there’s other money out there,” Lovelace said. “We do want and are in support of this plan,” Lovelace said. There were no Douglas County representatives at the Feb. 18 WRVEC session.

“My question is if Douglas County, or any other county, doesn’t contribute are they still going to get the fiber optic internet … and if they do, how’s that fair?” Ozark County presiding commissioner John Turner said.

In her presentation to county officials on Feb. 18, WRVEC Manager of Communications & Member Engagement Cassie Cunningham said local contribution was vital for the project to move forward.

Cunningham told Ozark County commissioners back in December that, in order to get some of the state and federal grants, local contributions were necessary.

Cunningham said it would take 15 years for the co-op to get back their investment. “We’re not really looking at this as a great investment,” she said. “I mean a 15-year payback is not considered a good investment by any means. But we’re looking at it more like we did when we brought electricity to this area many years ago. We’re a cooperative and we try to do what’s best for our members.”

The proposal would bring high speed internet packages to WRVEC customers, broken up into three packages, including:

• 100 Mbps for $69.99 per month

• 500 Mbps for $79.99 per month

• 1 Gbps for $99 per month.