Earlier this year, Tilson was selected by the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative (NHEC) under the federal CARES Act to be the full-service provider of design and construction to expand broadband access for hundreds of underserved residents in rural towns throughout New Hampshire. As a prerequisite to the CARES Act funding, all required design, logistics, and construction had to be completed by December 15th, 2020.
Despite the CARES Act’s tight timelines, Tilson and the NHEC were able to build 100+ miles of fully operational network across 4 towns in New Hampshire in less than 100 days. To celebrate, Tilson, members from the NHEC, and local business partners came together on December 15th for an outdoor gathering to commemorate the completion of the project which provided nearly 900 unserved NHEC members with broadband internet access.
“The Tilson group, that has been doing all the lines, has been incredible,” said Phil Tirrell, Chairman on the Lempster Board of Selectmen in a recent press release. “They are out there in the worst of weather, they don’t give up, and they have done a terrific job to meet the deadline that was placed on them. We can’t thank them enough for everything they did.”
Broadband for Telemedicine, Education, & Economic Growth
With the new broadband network in place, residents and local businesses from the towns of Colebrook, Stewartstown, Clarksville, and Lempster now have access to high-speed Internet that will provide service at upload/download speeds as fast as 1 gigabit per second. This service will be critical for telemedicine, virtual learning, and economic development during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“By bringing high-speed, high-capacity Internet into these communities, what we’ve really done is open up opportunities for the citizens and students of New Hampshire,” said Frank Edelblut, Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education. “Not only are they able to find more efficient, effective ways to access their education, we are opening up worlds to them through access to high-speed broadband Internet.”
Read NHEC’s full press release.
Tilson Broadband Support
Tilson is on a mission to build America’s information infrastructure, and we share our clients’ commitment to delivering affordable and reliable broadband access to all Americans. Please contact us to learn more about how Tilson can support your broadband deployments.