Uniti Fiber announced the completion of a major broadband project that will provide high-speed internet service along the U.S. 31 Corridor in rural Jemison, Alabama.
“Uniti Fiber is a committed partner in Alabama’s on-going rural broadband expansion efforts because we understand the economic and quality of life improvements that access to 21st Century technology can generate in more remote areas of the state,” President Andy Newton said.
“Even the simplest day-to-day business operations, especially in the retail industry, are dependent upon the ability to connect with the internet and other networks, so we are pleased that our work is bringing positive change to the Jemison community.”
Many local residents and small business owners in the area of Jemison and the rest of Chilton County expressed support and gratitude for Uniti’s work to modernize the region’s broadband.
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One local business manager, Cameron Beam, called the days before the expansion “rough.”
“Using your EBT card, your WIC card, it goes through doing checks. Debit card, credit card, all that goes through the internet. We also use it to connect to our warehouse so that we can send orders, we can download pricing and all that that we have to have on a daily basis,” Beam, who operates the only grocery store in 15 miles, said. “Before Uniti, it was kind of rough. I will say rough. We were probably days without internet connections at a time…Uniti Fiber is fantastic.”
“We’ve been up and business has been picking up right and left because of being able to service the customers.”
John Gilbert, who serves as vice president of Active Tractor, a local lawnmower parts, service, and sales business, revealed some of the issues his company experienced prior to Uniti’s project.
“We were having to keep a cell phone hotspot to maintain credit card processing because of the frequency of downtime. We would lose customers because it took up so long to look up their parts. It really became a drag on our business,” Gilbert said. “I just don’t know of any other way to describe it, [Uniti Fiber] really has been great for our business.”
Church administrator at The Lighthouse Church, Tracia Bussey, said the updates have helped with community outreach.
“Connectivity is important for those that need to connect with us online, and connecting with people that maybe that’s the only place that they have to connect with us for a word of encouragement or uplifting, or maybe connecting with us for outreaching, for help,” Bussey said. “It’s amazing how when something is so dependable, you forget about how bad it was before.”
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Chris Williams, co-owner of Professional Computing Solutions, hailed Uniti for its role in improving the overall quality of life and business in the area.
“Our customer’s quality of life and quality of service to their customers, I think has improved greatly since Uniti Fiber got involved with their businesses, especially in small towns like Jemison, where they often are one of the few places that provides a good or a need, whether that’s going to the dentist and being able to get dental work done, if that’s going to church and being able to pull up even the Bible app on their phone, or a church being able to livestream their services for people who didn’t make it to church that Sunday; pulling up reports, sending emails, the quality of their business has been improved because of what Uniti Fiber has done.”
Uniti Fiber is also currently working with local providers to expand residential broadband access in the community through its middle-mile infrastructure.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
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