In late July, Washington EMC announced the completion of their fiber broadband project.
100 percent of Washington EMC members now have access to fiber internet, and the member-owned cooperative says they are trying to “keep it that way.”
For Georgia hunters, the popular dove season opens this weekend on Saturday, September 7.
“With the annual tradition of dove hunting in Georgia upon us once again, it’s a great time to get outdoors and bag a few birds,” said a post to social media from Washington EMC. “With our fiber lines installed under existing power lines, we want to remind everyone to never shoot at any of the lines attached to our poles.”
Washington EMC states that the lines are very durable and withstand a great amount of natural weather wear-and-tear, but the fiber optic lines are obviously easily damaged by gunshots.
“We’re very proud of our high-speed internet and don’t want anyone to experience extended outages and/or expenses associated with damaging these lines,” said the Wash EMC post. “Please keep this in mind and share with friends, family and lessees.”
Washington EMC first announced its partnership with Conexon Connect to design and build a fiber network over three years ago in April of 2021. Just two months back, EMC President/CEO Wendy Sellers spoke on the project fulfillment.
“The result of the project’s completion is a state-of-the-art fiber network that spans our entire service area, providing lightning-fast speeds and unparalleled connectivity,” said President/CEO Sellers. “As we all now know, access to reliable high-speed internet is not merely a luxury, but a fundamental necessity – one which has now been met for our members.”
In 2021, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp made an appearance in Washington County to discuss the partnership providing high-speed internet to more than 12,000 homes and businesses in 10 Middle Georgia counties – Washington, Baldwin, Emanuel, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Johnson, Laurens, Warren, and Wilkinson.
Washington EMC invested $52 million into the capital investment with Conexon Connect contributing an additional$2.5 million.
Washington EMC owns the fiber and leases excess capacity to Conexon Connect, which serves every EMC member with fiber-to-the-home internet speeds up to 1 Gigabit per second. The internet service is powered by Washington EMC fiber. Conexon Connect provides the retail service to homes and businesses, managing account set-up, customer service, operations, marketing, and billing.
In February of 2022, Washington EMC received a $13.2 million grant through the American Rescue Plan Act to assist their fiber construction project.
Now completed, 2,300 miles of fiber-optic line has been constructed. 12 huts have been installed throughout the Washington EMC service area to light the fiber for different communities.
To date, nearly 5,000 customers have been connected through Conexon.
Saturday serves as opening day of dove season in Georgia. The season will run through October 13, pause until November 23, then re-open through December 1. At that time, dove season will halt once more to December 19 before running through a final date of January 31, 2025.
“Dove season kicks off the fall hunting season in Georgia and is a great opportunity to bring a new hunter with you into a field and get them excited about hunting,” said Kara Nitschke, Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division Biologist. “Consider visiting a public dove field this year. Whether found in a Wildlife Management Area or a Voluntary Public Access Area, these fields undergo a great deal of preparation to attract as many doves as possible for your hunt.”
According to the DNR, the limit is 15 doves per day for each individual.
Statewide shooting hours for dove season are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
Individuals aged 16 years and older must have a valid hunting license and Georgia Migratory Bird License to hunt doves in the state. Licenses may be purchased online at GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com or by calling 1-800-366-2661.