BrightRidge opens 28 Free Public Wi-Fi locations; Bowmantown broadband met with strong demand

JOHNSON CITY – BrightRidge Broadband is now live with 28 high-speed free Public Wi-Fi locations while also initiating fiber broadband service to the previously unserved areas of Bowmantown and Pleasant Valley/Key Mills in Washington County.

The $3 million project was funded with $2.46 million from six Tennessee Emergency Broadband Emergency Broadband Grants, awarded in late August by the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development. The project was completed on time and on budget in just under four months.

“Throughout the pandemic, our community and our Board of Directors placed a huge responsibility on BrightRidge to do all we can to assist our region in responding to a dramatically different reality where success at work and in the classroom largely depends on the availability of high-speed internet,” BrightRidge CEO Jeff Dykes said. “Lighting 28 high-speed Free Public Wi-Fi locations is a major step in addressing availability. At the same time, because Bowmantown and Pleasant Valley were completely unserved, those areas were eligible for grant support to extend high-speed fiber to the premise in these locations.”

The project required installation of 64.92 miles of new fiber optic to serve 28 schools and community buildings in Washington and Sullivan counties as well as the communities of Bowmantown and Pleasant Valley/Key Mills. In addition to service equipment at each Public Wi-Fi location, the grant paid for fiber optic drops at every home in the unserved area.

“We have seen very strong customer response to having high-speed broadband Internet in this area,” BrightRidge Chief Broadband Officer Stacy Evans said. “The take rate is currently about 50 percent. We have seen throughout the pandemic the critical importance of having high-speed broadband available, and we continue to look for additional grant opportunities to enhance our ongoing phased rollout.”

Research published earlier this year by the Quello Center at Michigan State University found major learning impacts for those students without broadband, including lower grade point averages, stunted digital skillsets and lengthier times required to complete homework.

Similarly, the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development found 17 percent lower wages for those without “baseline” digital skills, while the availability of telehealth services provided over the Internet lowered hospital admissions by 25 percent and hospital length of stay by 59 percent.

BrightRidge Broadband has built a triple redundant broadband network with three connections to the Internet backbone near Washington D.C. and Atlanta. Through this network, BrightRidge Broadband delivers nation leading service of up to 10 Gigabits per second. Further, BrightRidge Broadband does not have data caps, nor does it require long-term service contracts.

Community centers offering free BrightRidge Community Wi-Fi on the grounds include the Appalachian Fair Grounds in Gray, Bowmantown Ruritan, Limestone Ruritan, Leesburg Ruritan, Oak Glen Community Center and Telford Ruritan.