TVEPA Receives Preliminary Award For Fiber Deployment
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WATER VALLEY– The Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) has announced the approval of grant funding for nine broadband projects across Mississippi including funding for areas in Water Valley.
The news comes as Tallahatchie Valley and its subsidiary, TVIfiber, have collaborated with the BEAM office during the last 18 months on a grant application to secure funding to help provide broadband service to 811 unserved and underserved locations in areas of northeast Yalobusha County, Water Valley and southern Panola County.
“TVIfiber has recently received notification of a preliminary award in the amount of $3.8 million for the 811 locations,” reported Brad Robison, CEO of TVEPA and TVIfiber. “This is a significant milestone that would not have been possible without the support from the community, Mayor Tommy Reynolds and other local leaders.”
Robison cautioned that the award notification is only the beginning of a very detailed process and is not a final conclusion for broadband deployment.
“We have not seen the legal requirements associated with acceptance of the grant, and the fine print must be carefully evaluated. TVIfiber will conduct a thorough legal and financial review before presenting our findings to the (TVEPA) Board of Directors,” Robison added.
Robison also reported that TVIfiber has already started engineering reviews and will continue to conduct the necessary due diligence before a final conclusion is reached.
“We will notify the communities involved as soon possible once a decision is made,” Robison said.
Mayor Reynolds noted that the city and TVEPA have been in discussions for over two years about the deployment of fiber in all homes and businesses in the City of Water Valley and in outlying areas that receive electricity from the Water Valley Electric Department to provide another option for high speed internet in the city.
The mayor explained that the BEAM allocation is vital to help subsidize the proposed investment by TVEPA if the fiber deployment project becomes a reality.
Reynolds also said $750,000 was allocated by the State of Mississippi during the 2023 Legislative Session, money earmarked to assist the City of Water Valley for maintenance, repair and facilitation of broadband service. The money was appropriated when Reynolds was serving his final year as a state representative.
“Representative also Kevin Horan also helped with this funding, he has been a strong ally for fiber deployment in Water Valley,” Reynolds said.
Citizen Input Was Vital
Monday’s announcement by the BEAM office follows months of wrangling after BEAM first announced a preliminary award in 2023 for funding awarded to TVEPA for fiber deployment in Water Valley. However that funding was put on hold after Maxx South filed a report with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) challenging 317 locations in the city’s electric department coverage area that were listed in the grant application submitted by TVEPA for grant funding from the BEAM office.
In April, Mayor Reynolds and Yalobusha County Economic Development District Director Kagan Coughlin launched an effort to contest the cable company’s challenges. That effort included a campaign soliciting citizen input for participation in a BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment) challenge, a process that required documenting internet speed on three different days at different locations in the city. That documentation was submitted to the BEAM office.
Reynolds said that he received notice on August 2 that the city was successful in contesting all 317 challenges by the cable company.
“We got notice that our challenges to the challenges for all the sites were successful, we won on every one,” Reynolds said. “The citizens of Water Valley and the people served by the electric department helped immeasurably,” Reynolds said about the documentation presented to the BEAM office. “Without their help, this would not have happened.”
Like Robison, Reynolds also cautioned that the fiber deployment remains in a work in progress.
“We look forward to working with TVEPA as this progresses,” Reynolds added.
