Worth the cost?

United Cooperative Services is seeking input from members in its 14-county service territory to determine the feasibility of providing high-speed Internet service.

According to the Co-op, 87% of its members currently lack access to affordable and/or reliable broadband service that meets the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) minimum standard.

United CEO Cameron Smallwood said that limited bandwidth is a “quality of life issue” that affects a community’s economic prospects. Slow, expensive mailto:Inter-kcruz@hcnews.com Internet service can make it hard for a community to compete, he said.

United has commissioned a market study.

Meanwhile, a member advisory committee composed of two members from each of United’s seven board of director districts as well as two at-large representatives is working to gather input from the co-op’s membership.

Mauri Montgomery, United’s vice president of media and community relations, said that consideration of the broadband service is in the preliminary stages.

In an email to the HCN, he stated that an important part of the process is for United to receive “a clear consensus from our membership that they want their cooperative to invest in this considerable project.”

He continued, “Yes, it will provide many benefits to members and the communities we serve, but financing it is only possible through the electric cooperative – at least until it could begin to generate revenue based on sustainable take rates of at least 41 percent of our membership.”

Montgomery stressed that United’s member-owners should have a say about the cooperative’s business opportunities and risks “because the company’s success affects the rates they pay and the services they receive.”

kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258