By Fred Guarino

The Selma Times-Journal

 

LOWNDESBORO — The South Central Alabama Broadband project spanning eight counties has been suspended for 30 days for evaluation by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Dr. Aaron McCall, executive program manager for the South Central Alabama Broadband Commission, said Trillion Communications has until March 9 to show the project to lay 2,200 miles of fiber optic cable infrastructure for high speed content and communications can be delivered on time.

Trillion Communications is the grant recipient for the project funded by $59 million in National Telecommunications and Information Administration grant funds and $27 million from private investors.

The project is designed to provide the fiber optic cable infrastructure in Butler, Crenshaw, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Lowndes, Macon and Wilcox counties.

McCall said the project is “under agency review because we are behind schedule.”

He said in August of this year, 67 percent of the project is supposed to be done.  He said this is a 36-month shovel ready project, which is supposed to be up and running by Aug. 13, 2013.

However, McCall said, less than 1 percent of the work has been done, including 29 miles of cable in Crenshaw County, laid by Troy Cable, and 20 miles of conduit in Lowndes County, laid by A2D.

He said the government gave a “stop work” order “until they could evaluate whether those who are doing the construction can bring the project in on time.”

Charlie King Jr., who serves as chairman of the Lowndes County Commission and the SCABC, confirmed during Monday’s regular county commission meeting that the project is being held up.

King said he got notice last week that the project would be suspended for documentation while he was on a NTIA call from Washington, D.C.

“Every Tuesday there is a call from NTIA from Washington with SCABC, A2D and Trillion Communications. And they ask for proper documents, and they ask questions, and we provide answers the best we possibly can,” said King.