High-speed Internet infrastructure already available on Coast

Several recent opinion pieces have addressed the proposed plan of using BP money to build a government-owned broadband "fiber ring" that will connect several South Mississippi cities. As just one of the current providers of high-speed Internet on the Gulf Coast, we wanted to take a moment to clarify some points that have been addressed.

There are currently multiple high-speed Internet providers -- Cable One, C Spire, AT&T and Southern Light -- with infrastructure and competitive services already in place on the Gulf Coast. Allocating substantial public funding to build infrastructure that is already available doesn't make sense for constituents, especially when there are more pressing needs facing our communities.

We need next-generation speeds for both businesses and residents in Mississippi in order to promote continued growth and economic development. Cable One Business offers those next-generation speeds now. We offer Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) to local businesses over our ultra-high-speed fiber ring with download and upload speeds up to 1 gigabit and Ethernet connection speeds up to 10 gigabits.

Cable One currently offers residential customers speeds up to 200 Mbps, and we will be launching a gigabit (1,000 Mbps) service later this year to Gulf Coast residents.

Based on Cable One's experience in actually building a fiber ring that works, the cost to build the proposed fiber ring network is likely to be tens of millions of dollars. This is not inclusive of future costs such as infrastructure maintenance, upgrades, technical support and customer service support. These are costs that taxpayers will be responsible for with a government-owned broadband service.

Cable One and other providers invest substantial funds each year to maintain and upgrade their high-speed Internet services. Cable One has invested $28 million across the Gulf Coast over the past five years and will invest another $18 million in 2016 as part of our commitment to further economic growth in our communities.

Instead of using valuable funds to build an infrastructure that is already available, wouldn't this funding be better utilized to improve education and digital literacy in Mississippi?

Digital literacy is vital to education, workforce development and civic engagement. Economic growth is heavily reliant on the educational level of our community, and much of that education starts with digital literacy. Technology learning centers focused on digital literacy training for adults in the community would create an educated, active and engaged citizenry committed to new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families and their communities.

Cable One is committed to partnering with our cities to provide ultra-fast broadband connections to these centers, and we look forward to the opportunity to assist in making a real difference in Mississippi.

Charlie Oakes, general manager of Cable One in Pascagoula, can be reached at charles.oakes@cableone.biz.

This story was originally published March 5, 2016 at 6:57 PM with the headline "High-speed Internet infrastructure already available on Coast ."