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A Maryland-based technology company is interested in running an underground fiber line network through Caroline County Date published: 6/14/2010
BY PORTSIA SMITH
Some parts of Caroline County could get broadband Internet access as early as next year if the county's homeowners associations want it. NWT Enterprises, a Maryland-based technology company, is interested in running an underground fiber line network throughout the rural county that could provide Internet, phone and television services. To get started, it would need to have approval from the homeowners associations at Lake Caroline, Lake Land'Or and Belmont, which have nearly 3,000 residents collectively. NWT President Kevin Manovich said that when he started his company last year, he noticed that rural areas had a high demand for those services, but they weren't being offered by larger corporations because the populations are smaller and more spread-out. He described Caroline as being along the Internet highway between Fredericksburg and Richmond, except that there are no exits in Caroline that lead to Internet connectivity. "If people don't have the resources that other people do have, they can't be as competitive," he said. That's why he thinks Caroline would be a perfect fit for his business approach. NWT's plan would include running a fiber line to Lake Caroline, which currently has no high-speed Internet provider. The line would later extend to the other communities, to schools and eventually to more rural areas such as Sparta and Dawn, he said. Joe Childs, an NWT representative, met with Caroline officials and community members Thursday night in a meeting organized by Supervisor Floyd Thomas, who heads the county's technology committee and has made getting broadband a priority. "I don't care how we [get broadband], I just care that we get it," Thomas said to about 20 people. Residents of Lake Caroline, Lake Land'Or and Belmont, as well as the school system's IT consultant, all said they were interested and would have more detailed discussions with NWT in the coming months. The project seems to fit in with a technology curriculum the school system is currently working on. Representatives from Metrocast and Virginia Broadband also were in attendance. Childs assured them that his company didn't want to compete, but to partner with them. He said NWT would allow small companies to tap into its fiber lines. Childs said the plan is a win-win for the customers who finally get service, for small businesses that will be able to offer more to their customers, and for the county, which can use the availability of the service to recruit other businesses and new homeowners. "We think this will help the county a great deal," Childs said. Thomas said there is no county investment in this project and that it would be up to the residents to make it happen. "I'm jumping on he train," Thomas said. "The train is going to bring broadband to the county. But if you don't get on the train, it ain't going nowhere." Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Long time coming, but it's about time Caroline joined the rest of the world.
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