Buzz Broadband is in the house

Covington Electric Cooperative formed Buzz Broadband in 2021 with a mission to connect previously underserved areas with high-speed fiber internet. Now, that mission has a home.

Members of the public, including local government officials and business leaders, got a peek inside Buzz Broadband’s new office and warehouse that is serving as the hub of operations for construction of its fiber network and customer service.

“There’s a lot of activity here,” says William Baines, Buzz Broadband’s director of telcom services, at January’s open house. “We’re building a state-of-the-art fiber optic network, which will bring fiber optics all the way into your home. This fiber optic technology is really considered one of the most future-proof technologies, because the cables that we're putting on poles and putting underground will serve us well for many decades to come.”

The potential for fiber optic internet connections hasn’t been fully reached with current technology, but some experts theorize that one strand of fiber optic cable can transmit up to 44 terabytes per second. One terabyte is equal to 1 million megabits.

When Buzz Broadband completes its mainline fiber network, it will have roughly 1,580 miles of fiber running through its service area.

“This $65 million investment will provide fast, reliable and affordable internet in many areas that don't have access to it,” Baines says.

Currently, around 91% of the main network fiber has been placed in the field, and more than 60% of the service area is connected to the main network with fiber taps, which bring that fiber connection into homes or businesses.

Buzz Broadband and its partners, like FiberRise, are working every day to bring this service to all CEC members with close to 100 people working on the project just about every day, Baines says.

It’s an ambitious goal, but it’s important to CEC to bring this essential service to its members. Supporting rural America and leveling the playing field with larger, urbanized cities is a major reason for the creation of electric co-ops. It’s the reason Buzz Broadband started the project in Wing.

“Much of that area doesn’t even have cell service,” Baines says. “We started in Wing first because we felt it was important and because they’ve been kind of left behind or on the wrong side of the digital divide.”

Buzz Broadband workers continue to be busy as bees bringing top-quality internet with equal upload/download speeds of 200 Mbps up to 2 Gbps, without data caps or contracts. It currently serves about 2,600 customers in the CEC service area and are adding more every day.

To find out when Buzz Broadband will be available in your neighborhood, find your location on the interactive service map at buzzbroadband.com. It provides information about the status of construction and service in each part of the CEC service area. You can pre-register and receive notifications when service becomes available to you. You can also reach a Buzz Broadband representative by calling 833-399-BUZZ (2899), or email customerservice@buzzbroadband.com during regular business hours. n