KEY ACTION  Heard about Frontier Communications' plans for new fiber-optic cable internet in the Ashland area.

DISCUSSION Vice-President of External Affairs for Frontier Fiber, Mike O’Keefe, gave a presentation on the company's installation plans, which stretch beyond Ashland.

“We are about halfway through the city and we have some planned builds for Loudonville and Hayesville as well,” said O’Keefe.

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He showed several maps outlining the areas of coverage and the advantages of fiber versus copper lines.

“With so many people working from home these days, we need to make sure that people have very fast and reliable connectivity,” explained O’Keefe. “Both to homes and businesses, as well.”

Commissioner Mike Welch inquired about upload and download speeds available. O’Keefe said speeds would be up to 2 GB, with the potential for increasing the speed in the future.

Welch also asked if the distance the line is run to a home would affect speed.

“Distance does not matter,” said O’Keefe. “It did with copper. With fiber you don’t have that. It doesn’t matter if you are next to the box, or the last person being served, it will be the same.”

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UP NEXT: Meets at 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 22 in the conference room on the second floor of the County Office Building. Meetings are open to all and livestreamed on the county's Facebook page.