High-speed, broadband internet is becoming more available to rural Attala County residents as time progresses. Broadband expansion into rural areas of Mississippi has been taking place since the state legislature passed Senate Bill 2798 in Feb. 2021, allowing power companies to lease its fiber to third-party internet providers.
A right-of-way permit was recently approved by the Board of Supervisors at its Jan. 3 meeting, allowing AT&T to install fiber-optic cable on Attala Road 2247, which prompted discussion about right-of-way issues between cellular/internet companies installing “dark fiber” on the same roadsides as water lines belonging to local rural water associations.
District Two Supervisor Billy Coffee said some issues have occurred in his district between crews, but from his perspective, both parties have been trying to work together.
County engineer Christian Gardner said he believes a problem exists with internet companies requesting right-of-way permits to lay fiber-optic cable and water associations having to pay for the process to perform line locations, which can cost more than $10,000 each time. Then, when internet companies come to install the cable, water associations have to perform an additional line location. This process may be creating a financial burden for rural water associations, Gardner said.
“I'm hearing a lot from the rural water associations that they just can’t afford all these locates. I don't know what the fix to that is,” said Gardner. “So far, everywhere there's been a conflict — albeit C-Spire, AT&T, or whoever it is that’s trying to put the cable in — I've found that they've been real, real agreeable.”
Gardner said he has heard that crews are moving to opposite sides of the road to avoid getting in one another’s way and agreeing to fix areas they mess up. He told the supervisors that he wishes the project could be headache-free, but ultimately issues are bound to happen.
“When you’ve got multiple people trying to use the right-of-way to your roads to put in lines, things are going to happen,” said Gardner. “But from what I see, it seems like everybody has got a good attitude, good faith, and they're trying to do what they can to make it right as it happens.”
Moving forward, the Board of Supervisors agreed to discuss the possibility of adding language to its right-of-way permits that ensures internet providers will cover the costs of the line locations and remove the burden from rural water associations in order to solve the problem.
