A new tower erected by AT&T near Kokomo will help provide high-speed internet to an area of Marion County that was previously under served.
A group of state, local and AT&T officials gathered Wednesday near the tower along Branton Bay Road, just off U.S. 98 near the Walthall County line.
Mayo Flynt, state president of AT&T Mississippi, said the tower sends a fixed wireless broadband connection to an antenna mounted on the side of a house or a business.
“It’s capable of download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second,” he said. “To give you an idea of what that means, you could stream your favorite TV show, watch a move, do online education courses or any of the internet surfing that you want to do. It is a robust connection.”
Flynt said this was the first community-specific launch announcement, and AT&T has plans to deploy the service to 133,000 locations in Mississippi by 2020.
State Rep. Bill Pigott (R-Tylertown) spoke of the project’s importance to the region.
“Today’s announcement from AT&T is great news for Marion and Walthall counties and for improving internet access in rural areas like ours,” he said. “With better access to faster service through this new fixed wireless site, the result will mean more connectivity and a quality of life enhancement.”
Flynt said that there are many difficulties in providing internet service to rural areas.
“A few years ago, the FCC adopted a new program called the Connect America Fund to help fund deployment to rural areas that are unserved or underserved like this area of Marion County,” he said. “We saw that, combined with a new technology that was coming along, as an opportunity to bring broadband to rural America and begin to close the broadband gap. Today, we’re pleased to announce the availability of broadband to rural parts of Marion and Walthall counties.”
Earlier this week, AT&T announced the launch of fixed wireless service in select areas of 15 counties in Mississippi, including Amite, Attala, Choctaw, Clarke, DeSoto, Jefferson, Kemper, Lawrence, Neshoba, Marion, Panola, Tallahatchie, Walthall, Wilkinson and Winston.
Flynt said AT&T has a commitment to reach 40 percent of the 133,000 locations by the end of this year.
Marion County Development Partnership President Jerry Frazier said the addition of high-speed internet on the west end of the county was important.
“Improving access to high-speed internet in our area is good news, and I appreciate AT&T’s commitment to helping rural areas like our part of the state,” he said in a statement read by MCDP Chamber Division Vice President Carolyn Burton. “Broadband access brings opportunities for education, healthcare, communication, workforce development and access to information all of which enhance the environment for economic development. I am also thankful for the hard work of our elected leaders who are fighting to ensure that our communities enjoy the high-speed connectivity that our businesses and residents demand.”
Pictured Above: AT&T Mississippi President Mayo Flynt joints State Rep. Bill Pigott, Cindy Stanley of Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Sam Britton’s office and Carolyn Burton, vice president Chamber Division of the MCDP. | Photo by Mark Rogers
