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Riverstreet is making progress. That’s the message Rob Taylor wanted to send, when giving his update on the broadband project to Charlotte County supervisors during their Thursday, Nov. 14 meeting. But while significantly more miles of fiber lines have been laid, the concern from at least one supervisor focused on pricing. 

As it stands, there are three pricing tiers with Riverstreet. The fastest is 1000 mbps (megabytes per second) at a price of $130 per month. The second is 500 mbps at $110 and the smallest is 100 mbps at a cost of $90. These are the same prices Taylor presented earlier this year to the board and the same as the company’s website. Supervisor Hazel Bowman Smith complained that when the project first got started, supervisors were promised there would be a smaller package, something around the $69 mark. 

“I just think it’s unfair to our citizens, who have been waiting so long for something they thought was going to cost them $69.95, but now they’re being told that’s not available,” Smith said. “I know FCC changed their definition but it doesn’t change what this county was promised in the beginning.” 

She’s referring to a change in what is officially considered to be broadband internet. Previously, 50 mbps was considered fast enough to be broadband. In March of this year, the Federal Communications Commission changed that definition, stating that to be considered broadband, internet had to transmit at least 100 mbps. Now for companies like Riverstreet to get those federal grants for broadband projects, they had to make sure the levels of service they were offering all qualified as broadband. That means doing away with the 25 mbps and 50 mbps plans. And yes, Taylor pointed out, that also meant an increase in price. 

Broadband build continues

Meanwhile, the buildout continues in Charlotte County. The last time Taylor updated the board was in July, when Riverstreet had 280 miles of fiber cable laid. Now that’s increased to 388 miles. They’ve gone from 1,800 locations passed, meaning broadband is now active and available for that home, to 3,800 locations in the county. And people are slowly starting to be able to sign on. The group went from 82 installed customers in Charlotte back in July to 321, with 98 more in progress. 

“Right now, the project is scheduled to be completed, with all construction and everything, prior to the end of next year,” Taylor told the board. 

Now he pointed out that was the worst case scenario, with a vague end date of the end of 2025. Current efforts project that everything should be finished by the end of the second quarter. That goes along with the original contract, which estimated a completion date of no later than Aug. 31, 2025. Part of what’s helped with that is the fact very few contractors were affected by Hurricane Helene. There was just one person who had to take time off, in order to go and help family members clean up after the storm. 

The Phenix area is completely finished, according to both what Taylor told the board and what the map on the group’s website shows. Wylliesburg, meanwhile, is taking a bit longer than expected. Originally expected to be done by the end of 2024, now the Wylliesburg area should be completely active by July 2025 at the latest.