HB2 Ohio Residential Fiber Project (Huron County)
Published 02/13/23
In the fall of 2022 North Coast Wireless Communications LLC (aka NCWCOM) was awarded a House Bill 2 Residential Broadband Expansion Grant. The grant was created to help internet service providers build the networks to serve Ohioans who currently cannot participate in the modern economy because of a lack of high-speed internet. Basically, it is to provide internet accessibility in areas that are unserved or underserved. With the grant, NCWCOM has committed to constructing Broadband Fiber Internet infrastructure that will allow accessibility to 324 addresses in Huron County. Upon completion of the project, residents in the project scope will have access to broadband service, with speeds of up to one gigabit download and one gigabit upload. By utilizing Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, NCWCOM is able to scale the project to support future growth to support consumer and data demands.
Work began on this project in November and we are pleased to report that fiber installation on poles is complete. We are now into Phase II of the project, which is to run the fiber back to the NCWCOM offices in Wellington to be lit. This phase of the project is currently awaiting pole attachment agreements and approval to proceed from LMRE. We'd like to thank Ohio Edison, Firelands Electric, CSX, and the Village of Wellington for their ongoing support in moving the project forward as quickly as possible.
Once Phase II is complete, we will be able to light up the fiber lines and begin the home installation. We are anticipating installations to begin in early summer, and are excited about the opportunities that the fiber service will provide customers in those areas including education, communication, telehealth, entertainment streaming (television and gaming), electronic commerce, etc.
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We are happy to announce that even more addresses have been made available for our HB2 project. If you live at 1036-1301 Cook Road, 3745-4048 Court Road, 367-1299 Derussey Road, 1059-1490 Fitchville River Road, 2944-3046 Murray Road, or 2879-3329 Scranton Road, you can now receive our high-speed fiber service.
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We are happy to announce more addresses have been made available for our HB2 project. If you live at 4403-4717 on Prospect Road or at 758-980 Fitchville River Road North, you can now receive our high-speed fiber service.
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We excitedly celebrated the lighting up of the first phase of this project in September, and are thrilled to already have 25 customers installed on our GenX fiber. While we would like to just turn on all 324 addresses in the project area at once, it is necessary to do so in phases to ensure a smooth roll out occurs. Phase I installations include both Fitchville River and Prospect Roads, the first two miles from their intersection. We will continue to roll out phases and will announce those here, as well as knocking on doors and leaving door hangers to let each group know when it is time to call to schedule installation. Look for future announcements on the next phase group of addresses.
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Today, in partnership with the Ohio Department of Development’s office of BroadbandOhio, North Coast Wireless Communications (NCWCOM) has lit up Broadband Fiber Optic services in parts of Huron County. The Ohio Residential Broadband Expansion Grant was created to help internet service providers build the networks to serve Ohioans who currently cannot participate in the modern economy because of a lack of high-speed internet. With the awarding of this grant, NCWCOM will be able to provide high-speed fiber optic internet to 320+ underserved rural homes in Huron County.
“This grant program isn’t just about providing a connection to the internet; it’s about showing Ohioans that distance no longer defines their potential,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “Every time we help to expand broadband a community with little or no internet service, we’re helping create a bridge that empowers residents to better participate in the modern world and seize opportunities they may not have had otherwise.”
The four Huron County townships that are a part of phase one of this expanding fiber project are: New London, Fitchville, Hartland, and Clarksfield. The project area will be lit up in phases as well, with the initial light-up starting at the intersection of Fitchville River Road and Prospect Road. By utilizing Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, NCWCOM is able to scale the project to bolster future growth to support consumer and data demands. With these fiber optic internet services, NCWCOM will be providing upload and download speeds of between 100Mbps minimum to 1000Mbps maximum to all households.
“This project would not have come to fruition without the support of Governor DeWine, Lt. Governor Husted, Development Director Lydia Mihalik, and her team at BroadbandOhio,” said Matt Fridenstine, president and CEO of NCWCOM. “It is clear the DeWine-Husted Administration is very passionate about providing internet accessibility to areas in Ohio that have been historically overlooked, and we are beyond thankful for that.”
The NCWCOM team shares in this passion and has devoted a lot of time and effort in pursuit of this mutual goal. Other entities that have provided great help and service towards the building of this project are: Firelands Electric Cooperative, Lorain Medina Rural Electric, Village of Wellington Electric Department, Media Link, Millennium Broadband Network Materials, and Dauch Concrete Company.
Just as the project will continue to progress and more households will continue to receive high-speed broadband fiber internet, NCWCOM hopes to continue to foster greater relationships with the Ohio Department of Development, BroadbandOhio Team, local businesses, schools, community leaders, and citizens.
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Progress has continued behind the scenes with infrastructure work to complete the build. Plans for a ribbon-cutting ceremony are nearly complete and we expect to be lighting up customers in September. We WILL visit each home when service is available at that address and then customers may call to schedule their installation.
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Odds and ends work continues in preparation for the House Bill 2 Fiber Project lighting. The concrete pad for the electrical controls box is complete and the equipment and cabinets will be set this week. Splicing for taps continues, and testing will begin in mid-July. We are still on target for a late July/early August celebratory lighting of the fiber.
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Crews are currently working on splicing the fiber in preparation for taps to service customers. In addition, work is continuing on installation of the cabinets required to house the fiber equipment locally. The project continues to move ahead of schedule.
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We are excited to report that we will be working with CSX this Friday to cross the railroad tracks necessary to finish the project run back to our offices. Once that is complete, we will be working on installing taps on the run from the project site back to our offices. We are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel!
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Our great NCWCOM team and contractors are doing fantastic work, and we are progressing this project more and more every week. The run from the project to Wellington, Ohio is nearing completion. We will be working with CSX to cross the railroad tracks in mid-May.
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We are continuing to make great progress on the link back to the NWCOM offices. Currently, we are building in the backlot area of Wellington behind homes on the north side of Jones Road and behind homes in Parkside Reserve. Once that is complete, crews will be back out on Fitchville River Road building a few off-shoots and connecting a few remaining poles. Residents in the HB2 area should start to see our trucks again soon. We continue to be well ahead of the project schedule and can't wait to make residents in the project area very happy customers this summer!
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Crews are 95% done building the link back to the NCWCOM offices. They will then turn their attention to building some off-shoots on Fitchville River Road that need to be in place prior to going live. They will probably also finish connecting to a few remaining poles in that area. Things are coming along well, and a bit ahead of schedule.
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Crews finished pulling fiber down State Route 511 on Friday. We will be installing some necessary poles on Fitchville River Road this week, as well as finalizing the last stretch of fiber back to our offices. We are still on target to begin installations at homes early summer!
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This week crews are continuing to run fiber north through Rochester on SR 511 to Jones Road. Meanwhile, work behind the scenes includes planning and mini-projects that require completion before go-live. Each day's progress brings North Coast Wireless Communications closer to getting the HB2 project lit up and service to the 324+ homes in early summer. We are all very excited!
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Crews completed the fiber run on Jones Road last week. We happily received the ODOT permits for State Route 511, allowing progress to continue. This week crews will be running fiber north on SR 511 from 162 to Jones Road. Every foot of fiber run to get back to our offices gets us closer to lighting up this project, and we can't wait!
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We are pleased to report that last week our crews were able to complete the fiber string east on State Route 162 to State Route 511. We are awaiting the ODOT permit to proceed north on SR511, but are continuing progress on the build back to the NCWCOM office by stringing fiber on Jones Road from SR511 east this week.
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In the past week, we received the much-awaited LMRE pole attachment approvals, thank you to LMRE’s engineering crew. Our crews began to once again string fiber eastward on State Route 162 and will continue down 162 to State Route 511, where they will proceed north through Rochester to Jones Road. NCWCOM will also be setting some poles near the railroad crossing on Section Line Road 21 to allow for the fiber to run above the tracks. All of these items are part of Phase II, which is to run the fiber back to the NCWCOM office in Wellington and take us one step closer to getting the homes in HB2 lit.
To see if you are within the scope of this project, please search for your address here! If you type in your address and it appears, then you will be able to receive our fiber.