Upcountry Fiber & Anderson County Announcement

UPCOUNTRY FIBER TO ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO BRING 2800 MILES OF HIGH-SPEED FIBER INTERNET TO UNSERVED AND UNDERSERVED ANDERSON COUNTY ADDRESSES

WHO:       Upcountry Fiber (a partnership between Blue Ridge Electric and West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperatives) and Anderson County

WHAT:    Upcountry Fiber has been selected by Anderson County to bring high-speed fiber internet to key areas of the county that currently have little or no access to broadband. A study conducted by Palmetto Engineering identified need within the county for tens of thousands of unserved and underserved households which will benefit from bringing this critical utility to the areas of Anderson County. The combined projects will stretch more than 2,800 miles of fiber and the funding needed to complete is projected at $175 million at current material and labor costs.

Although the need has been apparent, the pandemic exposed critical needs that were exceptional in nature including e-learning, virtual medical care, and access to services via an internet connection that left some of Anderson County’s citizens without access to essential services through existing service providers.

WHEN:     Friday, January 28th at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE:  The Civic Center of Anderson

3027 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Anderson, SC 29625