— from Sharon Kivisto, SanJuanIslander.com —
Thursday, November 21 — Just like StarTrek’s Captain Kirk, the OPALCO Board of Directors set a course and directed staff to make it so.
The Board unanimously approved a motion to “accelerate expansion of our local member-owned, robust and reliable high-speed data infrastructure to provide Internet, phone and emergency communication services to our members.”
Details, including how the services will be offered, how much will be retail, how much will be wholesale, what role Rock Island and other local Internet Service Providers (ISP) play, remain to be worked out.
The approved motion, which was put forth by Board member Glenna Hall, frees up the amount of the co-op’s equity that can be used in the project.
(To read the full article, go to:
https://www.sanjuanislander.com/opalco-boldly-goes-forward-with-fiber-optic-plan )
Thanks to Chris Thomerson
The very first priority in OPALCO’s planned broadband expansion should be to insure the much-needed REDUNDANCY that we obviously don’t have, especially between islands. Hopefully, OPALCO will work with CenturyLink, Rock Island and other providers to make sure this redundancy is put in place before proceeding to other, less urgent priorities.