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We were excited to host WTOC’s Hayley Boland today and provide some info for her story about the coming of fiber broadband to the people of East Liberty County. Hayley interviewed Coastal Electric CEO Chris Fettes before Engineering Manager Brian Hayes showed her reels of fiber (over half a million feet currently on hand) that will soon connect Coastal Fiber customers. Here, Hayley and Brian stand outside the trailer where contractors are splicing 144-strand fiber cable. Watch WTOC 11’s Hayley Boland’s piece below.

On July 20, 2021, Governor Brian Kemp, Coastal Electric Cooperative, and Darien Communications made a joint announcement of the creation of Coastal Fiber, an affiliate of Coastal Electric Cooperative. The new partnership between Coastal Electric Cooperative and Darien Communications will impact 16,000 Coastal Electric customers in 3 counties – Bryan, Liberty, and Long. Coastal Electric customers in McIntosh County will continue to receive their broadband service directly from Darien Communications. Coastal Electric and Darien Communications will invest $39.5 million over the life of the project. The partners are presently still in the design phase. Actual construction on the first phase of the project will begin this fall. The aim is to connect the first customers by January 2022 – increasing business opportunities, enriching education, improving access to healthcare, and much more. Phase one of the project will reach the most unserved and underserved areas of