Stephens Co. Receives Award At Summit

Stephens County is recognized for its work on improving broadband Internet access at a recent conference.

Last week, the North Georgia Network held the first Georgia Gigabit Communities Summit in Clarkesville.

The summit also included a number of speakers who shared real-world broadband success stories and lessons learned from their own communities.

Among those recognized as a Georgia Gigabit Community at the summit was Stephens County.

According to Stephens County Development Authority Executive Director Tim Martin, the county has made improvements to broadband access through local partnerships.

“Because of the efforts that Stephens County has been able to make through its involvement and partnership with TruVista, Gunby Communications, and the North Georgia Network, we have achieved that Gigabit status,” said Martin. “That does not mean that every single address in Stephens County has the availability of Gigabit service, but the backbones are in place, the skeleton is in place, and we are going to be building out on that over the next several years.”

Martin said that while much has been accomplished, there is still a ways to go to get broadband Internet access in the region where it needs to be.

North Georgia Network President and CEO Paul Belk said last week’s summit was designed to recognize the progress made, but also to serve as a springboard for discussion on best practices for promoting Georgia communities’ gigabit connections to technology-reliant companies, ultimately spurring economic growth within the region.