June 10, 2019 Home
High speed fiber optic internet service has been in place in parts of Hancock County for several years now. Many more Hancock County residents (and some in Claiborne County) will have this service available soon – thanks to a grant from the state of Tennessee. Fiber optic line is being placed on Powell Valley Electric Cooperative poles right now. Below are some of the questions I have been asked – and the response from Taylor Nipper, Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Point Broadband.
I signed paperwork with Sunset Digital for internet service, do I have to sign new paperwork with Point Broadband?
You will not have to sign any paperwork with Point Broadband. We do not require contracts for residential services. Point Broadband has all records of previous customer requests.
How do I find out if I live in the area covered by the grant from the state of Tennessee?
The grant is primarily the Treadway area of Hancock County and serves portions of eastern Clairborne County. You can call 276-449-4639 and our customer care team will be able to tell you if you are in the service area.
Can I still sign up for broadband internet service if I am in the grant area?
Yes. You can call 276-449-4639. Any of our customer care team can help you.
I see trucks that say Sunset, some that say Powell Valley Electric Cooperative, and some that have no id. Are they all doing the same thing with the fiber?
We do not have any trucks that are not marked. As of May 8th, all of our Sunset trucks were rebranded as Point Broadband. PVEC is a sub-contractor for our middle mile fiber construction.
What is a POP and what does it do?
A POP, or Point of Presence, is a physical location that typically houses servers, routers, network switches, multiplexers, and other network interface equipment, and is typically located in a data center.
What does “backbone” fiber mean?
The Fiber Backbone in a network is the fiber lines between long distances connecting local networks to the Internet and major data centers. The “middle mile” in a network is the local fiber lines that run through a community and the “last mile” fiber is the network that connects neighborhoods, homes and businesses.
If you are not located in the grant area and are interested in high speed fiber optic internet service, call Powell Valley Electric Cooperative at 423-626-5204.
Everyone needs to learn more about our electric cooperative. For more information, go to pve.coop.