MOUNT VERNON — Two neighborhoods in town are now opening up for customer purchases as part of Clearwave’s major new fiber optic initiative, said Mount Vernon officials.
Members of the Clearwave Fiber residential sales team are now visiting homes in those areas to let residents know the service is available and what the pricing structure is if they’re interested in signing up. The two neighborhoods now opening up include one in the southern area of town between 20th and 23rd streets south of Logan Street, and one in the area of the Woodglen Acres and Queens Lake subdivisions, said Mount Vernon Assistant City Manager Nathan McKenna.
“It’s been a long process and it’s still ongoing but it’s good to see that some of the areas are coming online,” McKenna said.
Mayor John Lewis also remarked Monday on the current state of the Clearwave project.
“They’ve got two neighborhoods now that are opening up for customer purchases on their system. They’re starting to go around door to door and they do have permits,” Lewis said, later adding, “Many people in the community were looking forward to this faster technology and now they’ll have an opportunity to take advantage of it if they so choose.”
Clearwave Fiber is a newly formed company associated with Clearwave Communications. It is investing roughly $8 to $10 million into a project to expand the existing fiber network in Mount Vernon. This will allow the company to offer fiber optic based internet services to homes and businesses in the city limits, Sentinel archives state.
The Mount Vernon initiative is part of a larger project to build fiber optic infrastructure in Southern Illinois to service roughly 500,000 homes in the next five years, the archives state.
This past summer, the Mount Vernon City Council voted in favor of an ordinance approving an amendment to the Right-of-Way License Agreement with Delta Communications, LLC, doing business as Clearwave Communications. This action essentially gave Clearwave a permit to install fiber optic cable within the public ways of the city. Clearwave paid Mount Vernon a one-time fee of $30,000 as a reimbursement for the city inspectors and locators that are working with Clearwave on the installation.
As part of the project, multiple crews are installing underground fiber along the city streets using directional drilling. This is considered an amenity upgrade for the city. Mount Vernon is not investing any money but is providing some labor assistance in locating utilities.
Clearwave’s fiber optic network will be an option for residents and businesses in Mount Vernon. Estimates are the new fiber infrastructure will provide internet speeds of up to 1 gig initially. The new network will not take the place of current internet providers but will be an additional option people can voluntarily sign up for, Sentinel archives state.
“I’m glad they offered to make that type of huge investment in our community,” Lewis said. “A lot of people want it. Not all communities is it even being offered to.”
A firm time frame has not been provided for when the fiber optic installation will be completed. For more information, visit clearwave.com.
