Kosciusko Connect Makes 1st Internet Connection
December 10, 2021 at 2:10 a.m.
Kosciusko Connect Makes 1st Internet Connection
By David [email protected]
The event took place at the recently connected home of KREMC members Phillip and Amber Fink, 1330 N. Antler Drive, Warsaw.
“We have been looking forward to this day since we started construction in March,” said Kurt Carver, KREMC president and CEO. “Reliable, high-speed internet is crucial to success in today’s increasingly digital world. Today is an important milestone on our journey to ensure that everyone in our area has access to a great connection.”
Kosciusko REMC Vice President of Technology and Broadband Curt Barkey explained, “This is our first official connected customer that we have with Kosciusko Connect. We’ve had some friendlies before them to make sure the network is working so we can go through our install process, make sure that’s doing what it needs to do, our systems are in place. So this is the first official connect and we’re excited and ready to do a lot more.”
Phillip said he and Amber decided to go with Kosciusko Connect because, “We used cable internet for years, ever since we were at our apartment, and then when we came here, we got rid of cable TV and went to streaming services, but still the only way you could get internet was through the cable company. When we first got it, they gave me a set price and told me within a year it would go up $10 and the price would lock in. Well, it hasn’t locked in. Over the four years it has continued to go up. And with this fiber, we’re getting about 700 megabytes per second faster speed and we’re paying $40 less a month, so it was kind of an easy decision.”
Amber said they’ve been using Kosciusko Connect for about a couple weeks now.
“It’s been amazing,” Phillip said.
“Much different. I’ve been able to work from home a lot easier,” Amber said.
Phillip said he hasn’t had a “blip” with the service at all. Amber said she can stream upstairs and watch television while Phillip is playing his games online.
“Right now we have six devices connected to it and it runs great,” he said.
Amber said they would “definitely” recommend it to everybody. “It’s been so much better than having cable internet, and it’s been great working with the team, too. Very easy installation. No issues.”
Barkey said in their first two zones, “We’re in that 5,000 range already, of people that have either pre-registered or that we will anticipate will register.”
The Finks’ home installation is Kosciusko Connect’s first in Zone 1 of their initial five-zone buildout. Construction in other zones is still proceeding on schedule, according to a provided news release.
Barkey said there are five zones in the project.
“We’re currently in Zone 1. Each zone, we’ve kind of broken up into some smaller sections, but we’re in Zone 1 and we’re going to go counter-clockwise. We’re scheduled for a two-year buildout, and then we’ll be doing installs as we go along,” he said.
“We’re doing it for all Kosciusko REMC members and we do touch into other parts of surrounding counties, but we’re not going into – let’s say Whitley County – we’re not doing that. But where our members are at in Whitley County we’re doing, but right now we’re not focusing on anything outside of our county,” Barkey said.
For now, the Kosciusko Connect customer service team is reaching out to pre-registered members to schedule service drops and home installations when service becomes available. Kosciusko Connect and KREMC are working together to add highly-qualified employees to their teams and to make the installation process as efficient as possible, the release states, according to the news release.
“I want to thank our community for their overwhelmingly positive response to this project,” Carver said. “We knew that demand would be high, but pre-registration numbers in all zones are showing us just how badly our service is needed. We are ramping up our install crews to ensure that we meet this demand as quickly as we can.”
Kosciusko Connect urges everyone who is interested in fiber to pre-register at https://kosciuskoconnect.com. Pre-registration does not obligate anyone to service, but it does help Kosciusko Connect understand need and plan efficiently, the release states. Though Kosciusko Connect is focused on serving KREMC members first, they plan to expand in the future.
“We’re going to take care of our membership first. We want our members to have it. Once that is done, then we’ll start doing some looking and some feasibility in some different areas and see where things are at, and we’ll start connecting up those nonmembers where it makes sense,” Barkey said.
He said Kosciusko Connect is “very comparable” to other internet providers.
“What makes us different is our upload and download speeds are symmetrical,” Barkey said. “Cable isn’t going to be able to do that. DSL is not going to be able to do that. So, part of the lure to this is the symmetrical speeds.”
Explaining how the fiber is connected to a home, Kosciusko Connect technician John Lindsay said, “From the pole over there is a tap, and from the tap they run a fiber underground and then come to the (Network Interface Device). So then we run the fiber down and it goes into the house.”
There’s just a “small, little wire” that goes into the house, he said.
Technician Adam Churchill said it takes about 90 minutes to make the connection.
Rich Cinninger, Kosciusko Connect broadband supervisor, said, “You can not beat this network. There’s nothing out there that can compare to a fiber optic network. I’ve worked for cable companies and phone companies, and there’s nothing that can compare to fiber optics.”
For reliability and speeds, he said it’s “state of the art.”
The event took place at the recently connected home of KREMC members Phillip and Amber Fink, 1330 N. Antler Drive, Warsaw.
“We have been looking forward to this day since we started construction in March,” said Kurt Carver, KREMC president and CEO. “Reliable, high-speed internet is crucial to success in today’s increasingly digital world. Today is an important milestone on our journey to ensure that everyone in our area has access to a great connection.”
Kosciusko REMC Vice President of Technology and Broadband Curt Barkey explained, “This is our first official connected customer that we have with Kosciusko Connect. We’ve had some friendlies before them to make sure the network is working so we can go through our install process, make sure that’s doing what it needs to do, our systems are in place. So this is the first official connect and we’re excited and ready to do a lot more.”
Phillip said he and Amber decided to go with Kosciusko Connect because, “We used cable internet for years, ever since we were at our apartment, and then when we came here, we got rid of cable TV and went to streaming services, but still the only way you could get internet was through the cable company. When we first got it, they gave me a set price and told me within a year it would go up $10 and the price would lock in. Well, it hasn’t locked in. Over the four years it has continued to go up. And with this fiber, we’re getting about 700 megabytes per second faster speed and we’re paying $40 less a month, so it was kind of an easy decision.”
Amber said they’ve been using Kosciusko Connect for about a couple weeks now.
“It’s been amazing,” Phillip said.
“Much different. I’ve been able to work from home a lot easier,” Amber said.
Phillip said he hasn’t had a “blip” with the service at all. Amber said she can stream upstairs and watch television while Phillip is playing his games online.
“Right now we have six devices connected to it and it runs great,” he said.
Amber said they would “definitely” recommend it to everybody. “It’s been so much better than having cable internet, and it’s been great working with the team, too. Very easy installation. No issues.”
Barkey said in their first two zones, “We’re in that 5,000 range already, of people that have either pre-registered or that we will anticipate will register.”
The Finks’ home installation is Kosciusko Connect’s first in Zone 1 of their initial five-zone buildout. Construction in other zones is still proceeding on schedule, according to a provided news release.
Barkey said there are five zones in the project.
“We’re currently in Zone 1. Each zone, we’ve kind of broken up into some smaller sections, but we’re in Zone 1 and we’re going to go counter-clockwise. We’re scheduled for a two-year buildout, and then we’ll be doing installs as we go along,” he said.
“We’re doing it for all Kosciusko REMC members and we do touch into other parts of surrounding counties, but we’re not going into – let’s say Whitley County – we’re not doing that. But where our members are at in Whitley County we’re doing, but right now we’re not focusing on anything outside of our county,” Barkey said.
For now, the Kosciusko Connect customer service team is reaching out to pre-registered members to schedule service drops and home installations when service becomes available. Kosciusko Connect and KREMC are working together to add highly-qualified employees to their teams and to make the installation process as efficient as possible, the release states, according to the news release.
“I want to thank our community for their overwhelmingly positive response to this project,” Carver said. “We knew that demand would be high, but pre-registration numbers in all zones are showing us just how badly our service is needed. We are ramping up our install crews to ensure that we meet this demand as quickly as we can.”
Kosciusko Connect urges everyone who is interested in fiber to pre-register at https://kosciuskoconnect.com. Pre-registration does not obligate anyone to service, but it does help Kosciusko Connect understand need and plan efficiently, the release states. Though Kosciusko Connect is focused on serving KREMC members first, they plan to expand in the future.
“We’re going to take care of our membership first. We want our members to have it. Once that is done, then we’ll start doing some looking and some feasibility in some different areas and see where things are at, and we’ll start connecting up those nonmembers where it makes sense,” Barkey said.
He said Kosciusko Connect is “very comparable” to other internet providers.
“What makes us different is our upload and download speeds are symmetrical,” Barkey said. “Cable isn’t going to be able to do that. DSL is not going to be able to do that. So, part of the lure to this is the symmetrical speeds.”
Explaining how the fiber is connected to a home, Kosciusko Connect technician John Lindsay said, “From the pole over there is a tap, and from the tap they run a fiber underground and then come to the (Network Interface Device). So then we run the fiber down and it goes into the house.”
There’s just a “small, little wire” that goes into the house, he said.
Technician Adam Churchill said it takes about 90 minutes to make the connection.
Rich Cinninger, Kosciusko Connect broadband supervisor, said, “You can not beat this network. There’s nothing out there that can compare to a fiber optic network. I’ve worked for cable companies and phone companies, and there’s nothing that can compare to fiber optics.”
For reliability and speeds, he said it’s “state of the art.”
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