GAINESBORO — Twin Lakes Telephone Cooperative plans to offer gigabit internet speeds to residential customers – considered the premium standard for broadband connections and a “milestone” moment for the co-op.
CEO Jonathan West made the announcement at Saturday’s annual meeting.
“This is a milestone not just for our cooperative,” he said, “but also for the people of the Upper Cumberland region we serve. World-class broadband speeds mean a major improvement in quality of life, economic potential and educational opportunities. For people in our area of the state, they can now have the rural lifestyle they want without sacrificing outstanding connectivity.”
“Gig” service, the equivalent of 1,000 megabits per second, connects customers at speeds of up to 100 times faster than those currently available in many U.S. households. The speeds now available to a large number of residential customers in the Twin Lakes service area are significantly faster than those available to many urban and suburban Tennesseeans, thanks to Twin Lakes’ future-proof fiber network currently under construction. By year’s end, half of Twin Lakes members will have access to a gigabit connection.
“It took us decades to build a telephone network that connected our region to the outside world, and now we’re completing this all-new fiber network in just a few short years,” West said. “The Upper Cumberland is not an easy place to build a network, but these gigabit connections are something our communities need in order to grow and prosper in the future.”
Since 2014, the cooperative has invested $60 million into its fiber network. The project represents the largest investment in Twin Lakes’ history.
Twin Lakes, a TV, broadband and phone service provider, covers Baxter, Byrdstown, Celina, Chestnut Mound, Clarkrange, Cookeville south, Crawford, Gainesboro, Granville, Highland, Jamestown, Livingston, Moss, North Springs and Rickman.
