Community Minded Private Enterprise, Balsamwest Fibernet, Joins Congressman Heath Shular To Bring Broadband Connectivity To 11th Congressional District

Sylva, NC, August 20, 2010 – BalsamWest FiberNET had their work cut out for them when Congressman Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) approached them in the Spring of 2009 to talk about how Broadband Connectivity could help create jobs in the 11th Congressional District. Shuler expressed the critical need to reach Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee to support high-tech job creating industries and higher learning institutes in Western North Carolina. The problem was that all the Telecommunication routes to Oak Ridge from Sylva had to be backhauled to Charlotte then routed either North toward Virginia or South toward Georgia before terminating in Oak Ridge. This also made connectivity too costly.

After a productive conversation BalsamWest responded by saying they would investigate the situation and see if they could come up with a more direct and cost effective route. Recognizing the importance of the project for the community, coupled with having the only direct Commercial Carrier Grade Fiber that goes directly across the mountains; the BalsamWest staff worked assiduously on the pre-build portion of the project, completed in May, that provides connectivity from Oak Ridge/Knoxville to a short reach away from the BalsamWest network footprint. After completion, the new route into western North Carolina will give Telecommunications Carriers and their customers’ access to super fast connection up to 40 Gigs.

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Upon hearing the news of the progress being made Rep. Shuler remarked, “I am thrilled that Broadband connectivity will now link Asheville and all of Western North Carolina with Knoxville and Oak Ridge. Besides connecting Western North Carolina with the larger region which will aid in job creation, this will connect Western North Carolina with Oakridge National Laboratories, a hub for scientific and high-tech research and development. Oakridge National Laboratories also has supercomputing capabilities which will be a boon to Asheville’s National Climatic Data Center and our entire region once we can access those capabilities.”

In addition to the recent expansion, BalsamWest is dedicated to providing state of the art communications to Western North Carolina which allows the region to compete with any area of the United States. “We want to help grow and attract 21st century business to our communities”, says Chief Executive Officer, David Hubbs. “Communications infrastructure is a critical element in attracting industry and jobs, and BalsamWest is committed to being a part of making Western North Carolina ready for knowledge based companies.”

BalsamWest FiberNet is a fiber optic-based, wholesale and enterprise telecommunications carrier and is jointly owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Drake enterprises, Ltd. The mission of BalsamWest is to bring 21st century communications to Western North Carolina that previously have not been available in rural areas.

If you would like more information please call Mandy Lail at 828-586-6141 or email Mandy at alail@balsamwest.net.