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History has a way of repeating itself.<\/p>\n
More than 80 years ago, Coos-Cur Electric Cooperative (CCEC) brought electricity to the southern Oregon Coast because no one else would. Now, the co-op\u2014which serves the rural populations east and south of Coos Bay in Coos County, a portion of Douglas County, and nearly all of Curry County\u2014has established a new communications business to bring high- speed internet to the area for the exact same reason: because no one else would.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur members need access to broadband, and they don\u2019t have it today,\u201d said Coos-Curry CEO Brent Bischoff.<\/p>\n
That is soon to change.<\/p>\n
On November 30, 2020, the CCEC Board of Directors voted to accept a federal grant in support of Beacon Broadband. The pivotal decision to accept the grant cleared the way to bring high-speed internet to the south coast of Oregon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an amazing opportunity to build a fiber broadband network to all of our co-op members who want it,\u201d said John Herzog, CCEC board president.<\/p>\n
CCEC made the decision to become involved in the broadband business after more than two years of extensive research, planning, and feasibility studies.<\/p>\n
While Beacon Broadband is a forward-looking venture, Bischoff draws parallels with the co-op\u2019s storied past.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re here for the benefit of our members, and this is a tremendous opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a mirror in history of what happened 80 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as CCEC met the need to bring rural electrification to areas that were living in darkness, the rugged areas along the south coast have been left on the wrong side of the digital divide. About 20% of households in the CCEC service territory receive inadequate satellite or DSL internet services.<\/p>\n
Beacon Broadband will offer fiber-to-the-premises broadband to those looking for increased speeds, along with the same expert customer service CCEC members have come to expect.<\/p>\n
The pandemic has shown that expanding the ability to work remotely and learn online will be critical for the Oregon economy in 2021 and beyond.<\/p>\n
While broadband connectivity will assist businesses and students in rural Coos and Curry counties, the demographics of the south coast also make broadband a necessity as a significant senior citizen population gain access to telemedicine opportunities.<\/p>\n
Beacon Broadband\u2019s project will make high-speed fiber broadband service available to all of CCEC\u2019s 14,600 members who want the service. Where it makes economic sense, Beacon Broadband will also begin serving customers outside of the CCEC service territory.<\/p>\n
Using a rolling design-construct process, Beacon Broadband plans to light up the first customers by mid-2021 and have the entire network built by 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our hope that the south coast of Oregon will be one of the most connected places in the nation,\u201d said Coos-Curry\u2019s Paul Recanzone, who has helped spearhead the project.<\/p>\n
Recanzone noted a preregistration program demonstrated the significant interest in the community, which will be critical to the project\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeploying broadband is a capital-intensive business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Federal funding will be integral\u2014just as it was 80 years ago when electrifying places some said would never have electricity.<\/p>\n
It is no accident CCEC, which is headquartered in Port Orford, is using the historic Cape Blanco Lighthouse as an icon for its broadband venture. The lighthouse was not only a light for a fixed point of navigation for ships but a warning for those perilously close to the reefs.<\/p>\n
Coos-Curry Electric hopes Beacon Broadband will be a source of light for the fragile south coast economy and prevent the economic calamity that has befallen many communities on the wrong side of the digital divide.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the provider of last resort for our members,\u201d Bishoff said. \u201cHistory has shown no one else is coming to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative reaches into its storied past to bring forward-looking technology to Oregon\u2019s south coast when no one else will By Ted Case History has a way of repeating itself. More than 80 years ago, Coos-Cur Electric Cooperative (CCEC) brought electricity to the southern Oregon Coast because no one else would. Now, the co-op\u2014which […]\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":33877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33876\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oreca.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}