CULLEOKA, Tenn. (WTVF) — Goats grazing and the sounds of nature — there's something peaceful about the country in Culleoka, but Sandra Kerrigan hasn't been feeling calm lately. Internet issues have been frustrating her to no end.
“My job is stressful anyways, so that’s another layer of stress just having the lack of internet because I have deadlines to meet every single day. I have meetings 3 to 4 p.m. every single day, and when I can’t do that, I’m peeling my head off the ceiling essentially," Kerrigan said.
On the Maury and Giles County line, there's no commercial internet that works for her. She even signed up for Elon Musk's Starlink, but she said it's delayed.
To be able to work remotely, she purchased two cell boosters, which cost hundreds of dollars. She connects them to hotspots, but it's not always reliable.
"Areas like this that do not have internet or anything. They’re left further behind, because technology keeps going, and I don’t have anything," Kerrigan said.
Now, there's light at the end of the tunnel with $198 million in grants going to electric co-ops to expand broadband in rural parts of Tennessee.
United Communications President and CEO William Bradford said they’re bringing 14,000 homes and businesses high-speed internet. The legislature in 2018 loosened regulations to allow internet providers to partner with public utilities to make these sorts of situations possible.
"We were awarded about $53 million in grants from the state program bringing broadband to unserved areas," Bradford said, "Projects have already started in reality, people have already seen our trucks out."
The money came from the American Rescue Plan. "Obviously we want to build them as fast as possible, there will be some people who will get it quick, and some it will take us a little while further out to get the infrastructure all the way to them," Bradford said.
For Sandra, she can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"I can’t wait, I’m excited about it," Kerrigan said.
During the pandemic, no internet created obstacles for students who had to do their schoolwork from home too.
Here is who received grants:
- $8,631,244, Appalachian Electric Cooperative/Trilight
- $13,134,933, Chickasaw Electric Cooperative
- $17,500,000, Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation
- $8,899,590, Fayetteville Public Utilities
- $2,071,780, Gibson Electric Membership Corporation
- $53,362,147, Middle Tennessee Electric/United Communications
- $4,500,000, Meriwether Lewis Electric Cooperative
- $13,128,551, Powell Valley Electric Cooperative/Scott County Telephone
- $19,184,039, Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation/Aeneas
- $21,847,496, Tennessee Valley Electric Cooperative
- $15,397,511, Volunteer Energy Cooperative
- $20,168,743, Bolivar Energy Authority/Aeneas
Here’s a link to a map where you can enter your address to see if your home is included through Middle Tennessee Electric and United Communications.
