ROANOKE- Roanoke is now plugged in.
MetroNet has completed its infrastructure project in Roanoke that has brought a fiber optic network for services including high-speed Internet to the town.
"One thing that has become increasingly obvious is that 21st century telecommunications infrastructure is absolutely essential to anything that we are ever going to be able to accomplish for the economic growth of our county," Mark Wickersham, Huntington County Economic Development executive director, said.
Steve Biggerstaff, who works with business development for MetroNet, said rural broadband is only going to work with partnerships with local leaders such as Wickersham, the Huntington County Commissioners, the city of Huntington and the town of Roanoke.
"These things just don't 'happen', these are large investments and it's difficult to make the numbers work," he said. "We wouldn't be here without your support."
In fact, without the leadership of the community, Biggerstaff said MetroNet wouldn't even be in the county.
The service in Roanoke currently consists of mostly just the town, but could expand in the future, he said.
"I have not seen a location where we have not continued to expand," Biggerstaff said, adding they started in just the city of Huntington but has since expanded into the county. "We start with a core, a city or a town, and we expand from there."
Currently, there are around 400 people in Roanoke already signed up since they started installing in April.
Tom Wall, president of the Huntington County Commissioners, said this was a $1.2 million project, for which the commissioners had pledged County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) money.
"This company has invested over $15 million in Huntington County, to bring high-speed Internet to our county," he said. "This is phenomenal, not just for industry but for businesses, anyone who may be running a business out of their house or someone who is just trying to do schoolwork in their house."
Wall said he was excited for this project and added they are currently working to team up with a business in Bippus which needs faster Internet.
County Commissioner Rob Miller said it is important for the community to invest in this kind of infrastructure because of the competition for jobs and to retain jobs.
"This allows us to keep that edge to be able to compete with other communities that we want to retain and jobs coming into the county," he said.