John Dilbeck Musings

BRMEMC.NET Launches High Speed Internet Technology Initiative Focused on Advanced Data, Communications and Entertainment to Homes and Businesses

YOUNG HARRIS, GA – May 15, 2006 - BRMEMC.NET announced today that it intends to bring High Speed Internet Connectivity to Members of Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation. Service will be delivered by deployment of emerging Technologies such as Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), Broadband over Power Line (BPL) and High Speed Wireless (Wi-Fi).

With this service, BRMEMC.NET will be addressing the growing need for widely accessible data and communications to homes and businesses. Currently, access is available only in limited areas due to the constraints of telephone lines and equipment. By deploying a wide-area fiber network in conjunction with BPL and Wi-Fi, limitations such as geography and/or distance can be overcome.

At the end of 2005, BRMEMC.NET purchased fiber that encircles the entire BRMEMC service area. This fiber will serve as the backbone of our new data and communications network. From this backbone, fiber can be run directly to homes and businesses or can be used to feed Wi-Fi Access Points and BPL.

Brian Anderson, Director of Internet Services for BRMEMC.net said, “Our investment in a regional self-healing fiber-optic network will help us provide broadband services to many of our members that have never before had the option of high-speed Internet.”

Members will have access to reliable, high speed Internet connectivity and new options for data, voice and video. Bandwidth can be used to simultaneously provide high speed Internet access, phone service, video, and a host of other exciting features.

Response to this new project has been immediate and larger than expected. Local Real Estate Developers are already requesting that fiber be installed in existing neighborhoods, and many are planning for fiber to be installed simultaneously with electric utilities in new developments.

High speed Internet service will be priced comparably to DSL, but will offer higher speeds. Additional services such as telephone service or Voice Over IP (VoIP), Video, etc., will be offered through strategic alliances and/or partnerships with other service providers. Pricing for additional services will be forthcoming as those projects develop.

An online form has been created to assist in planning the deployment schedule. Customers can submit a response form at www.brmemc.net/response which will be analyzed to determine areas with the greatest initial need. Areas with no high speed Internet access will be given priority, and the goal will be to serve as many members as is possible. Keep an eye out for announcements for a deployment schedule on the web site at www.brmemc.net.

Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative headquartered in Young Harris, Georgia, serving over 45,000 customers in Cherokee and Clay Counties in Western North Carolina, and Towns, Union and Fannin Counties in Northeast Georgia. Organized locally in 1937, BRMEMC has invested nearly $100 million in physical infrastructure in its mission to provide reliable electric services to its members where those services would not otherwise have been available. In 2002, BRMEMC.NET began operation with a similar mission in mind: to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to our underserved region. Now over 3,000 customers strong, BRMEMC.net is forging ahead in its effort to make the Western North Carolina and North Georgia region a leader in the technology age.