[Lakegeezer]

The current electric wires will not carry data. That was tried in other parts of the country about a decade ago with little success. Any new cable will be fiber optics. Instead of electricity, light is beamed through the cable. Different colors of light represent different frequencies, or channels. Long-haul cables need to be amplified every 30 miles or so. Neighborhood distribution boxes regenerate light for individual homes. Gigabit speed is pretty standard, but 10 Gigabit service is technically possible, if there was a market. No need till we have hologram projectors in our living rooms, if ever.

It is yet to be announced which business model NHEC will take. In one approach, they sell wholesale bandwidth and let other companies sell to consumers. This is a good approach if NHEC doesn't want to deal with consumer level internet problems. They would also have the cellular telephone and cable providers as customers. Firstlight is the primary competitor today, but with a limited presence. The other approach is to be an internet service provider to residences, competing with the telephone and cable companies. More revenue, more expenses, more competition.

There is a document floating around listing the many telecom grants available in 2021. If NHEC can get their proposals together quickly, the parts of the Lakes Region that uses NHEC will benefit greatly having Federal funds pay for the infrastructure. That was done for electricity, telephone and highways in the past, so its pretty straight forward once the public utility nature of the service is established. Thanks to Corona, the argument is a lot easier than it was.