Thanks to a partnership between Cox Cable and Indian Electric Cooperative, Osage County has even more high-speed internet options.
Indian Electric Cooperative serves about 500 customers in Fairfax, and Cox uses power lines to provide high-speed internet through fiber optic cable.
Fairfax is best known these days as the setting for Killers of the Flower Moon, but what many people don’t know is that it has great internet connectivity.
“It’s absolutely necessary,” resident Kay Bills said.
Kay Bills is a founding member of Friends of Fairfax, a nonprofit organization dedicated to growing the local economy. The group plans an art gallery and office space on Main Street, but will need reliable high-speed internet to succeed.
“And, of course, we’re not just marketing in Fairfax, Oklahoma and Osage County, we’re going to use the Internet to work internationally,” Bills said.
Fairfax already has several internet options, but Brandi Ball of Indian Electric Cooperative says the company wants to provide better access for residents here.
“Our main purpose is to serve people,” Ball said.
In partnership with Cox Communications, the internet provider will lease IEC’s power lines to bring fiber-optic internet to Fairfax and other rural areas.
“We already have the infrastructure to take advantage of existing utility poles, and we wanted to use that to bring cutting-edge broadband service, high-speed internet, into people’s homes,” Ball said. Ta.
Over the next few years, IEC’s 14,000 customers across seven counties will have access to high-speed internet. Roger Ramseyer, vice president of Cox Oklahoma, said it’s clear the internet needs improvement.
“We’ve heard from people who have been calling us for years and saying, ‘When are you coming to our community?’ We’re able to provide a connection that changes their lives. It’s a very humbling opportunity,” Ramseyer said. .
Kay Bills said the community would benefit if more people participated.
“We have all the community elements here, and communication will bring it all together and we will see Fairfax grow,” Bills said.
Cox said he is currently working to get schools and businesses like those here on Main Street to provide high-speed internet. He also plans to offer cheaper internet packages to low-income households.
