LittleT State of the Union 2020

It has been quite a while since our last post, and it is now the start of a new year and new decade. What has transpired with Little T Broadband Services (LTBS) in the past 3 1/2 months?

Over the past months, we have been engaged with Balsam West to solicit bids on the engineering work needed for the LTBS Phase 1 project in Tessentee and Scaly. We have now been through two rounds of RFP (Requests for Proposal) and discussion with two engineering companies, and have received final bids. In December we also began exploring some ways to accelerate development for portions of the LTBS Phase 1 project. This would focus on providing “hotspot” connectivity to the two community centers and fire stations. We are working up new cost numbers for this alternative proposal. More on this later.

In the end it is about the money... The LTBS project has never been difficult to solve on the technical side, the issue has always been trying to find ways to fund it. For-profit companies have no interest in financing our project on their own, as there simply are not enough residents and businesses in our area to pay for the investment. This means that grants and donations are our primary means of funding the project.

The LTBS grant team has been very active. One major source of funding for internet development is through the USDA RUS ReConnect program. During the month of November, members of the LTBS grant team attended the USDA ReConnect workshop in Raleigh, and participated in the Round 2 webinar that USDA held in December. The grant team has also been busy working on research and applications for a number of other grant and funding sources.

What about the money promised to LTBS from Macon County? The short answer is that to date, no money has been received from Macon County. When the county commissioners voted to provide grant money to LTBS back in September, this was done with the provision that the county could do so in line with current NC statutes as interpreted by the county’s attorney. Unfortunately, there have been a number of impediments that have kept the county from following through on their intent and releasing grant funds. Though we are still hopeful that these issues will be resolved, there is no certainty that any funding can or will be provided from Macon County.

Balsam West Selected as Primary Provider

After a several months of meetings, reviews, and discussion with 5 different prospective service providers, Little T Broadband is pleased to announce that we have selected Balsam West as the primary provider in response to LTBS-RFP-040119. Balsam West in conjunction with Haywood EMC, will work with LTBS to implement the Otto pilot network and then continue through Scaly Mountain. Both of the Otto and Scaly projects lie within the Haywood EMC service area.

Over the next several weeks the three companies will develop formal agreements and create a detailed network design for the Tessentee and Scaly areas. We anticipate this network to be implemented predominantly as fiber to the home or premises with some fixed wireless delivery where necessary.

Many thanks to all of the companies that provided their well thought-out proposals in response to LTBS-RFP-041019, and took their time to meet and discuss the project with us in detail.

A Provisional Win For LittleT

Executives of Little T Broadband Services presented their request for progress funding to the Macon County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday eveing, September 10th. After lengthy and informative discussion, a motion was passed by the Commissioners to provide the funding requested in two steps once the decision is vetted by the Macon County Attorney. We thank the Macon County Commissioners for their support of our efforts.

The meeting was very well attended. Many thanks to the members of the Otto and Scaly Mountain communities for their strong show of support for Little T Broadband.

Sept 10th Macon County Commissioner Meeting

Little T Broadband Services (LTBS) is making a formal request of the Macon County Commissioners to provide funding which will support early stage development of our Otto / Scaly Phase 1. This phase forms the pilot for further deployment throughout the Otto Community and Macon County. Additional information regarding LTBS deployment plans will be published on or about September 12th.

Deep Dive Meetings Completed

The LTBS team has completed deep dive meetings with all providers that submitted proposals for RFP LTBS-RFP-040119. These meetings were intended to explore each provider's proposal in detail to help better understand the proposal in addition to the provider's background and capabilities.

We are now moving into further discussions of the cost and logistics that will be required to implement the initial pilot network in the Tessentee service area.

IRS 501c3 Designation Received

After a long wait, Little T Broadband Services, Inc. has received official recognition from the IRS as a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Though LTBS was incorporated and filed paperwork with the IRS at the end of 2018, it apparently takes the IRS a while to process requests. We have been told the IRS only updates the official list on their website quarterly. So, eventually we may actually be listed.

Call for Grant Writers

LTBS has officially posted a request for professional grant writers. We are interested in contracting professional grant writers with experience in developing public and private grant application submissions for broadband or telecommunications.

If you are an interested grant writer or know someone who may be able to help, please contact Tony Deakins via the Contact Us form on this website.

  1. Scaly Mountain Added
  2. RFP Submittal Period Closed
  3. RFP Release
  4. RFP Review

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