Lake Santeetlah – As Western North Carolina continues to pursue its quest for widespread, high-speed internet coverage, one local municipality recently changed providers – and even received a reimbursement for its efforts.
The Town of Lake Santeetlah has long been plagued by connectivity issues by its now-former internet provider, Zito Media. At the Feb. 11 council meeting, it was recounted that the town recently operated for a month without internet or phone (which functions through VoIP – or Voice over Internet Protocol) and, without the use of a neighboring property's hotspot, a recent council meeting would not have taken place due to the outage.
Finally deciding that enough was enough, the town switched to Starlink, a satellite internet service that has became popular to those in areas where internet is either unreliable or nonexistent – including Graham County. The switch will reduce the monthly price for service, as phone and internet through Starlink will only cost the town $150 a month.
Pastor Eric Reece with Robbinsville United Methodist Church was in attendance at the meeting to present the town with a reimbursement check for $1,514.77. The funds were provided by Dogwood Health Trust, which just announced a 10-member collaborative as part of its Digital Opportunities Initiative on Jan. 28.
The initiative is working across western North Carolina to make high-speed internet more readily available. More details on the initiative appeared in the Feb. 20 edition of The Graham Star ("Dogwood Health Trust working to expand internet access”).
Five Point Center in Robbinsville is the local hub for the initiative. Others that have partnered with Five Point are GREAT (Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team), Robbinsville United Methodist Church and Friends of the Graham County Public Library.
"The thought was that if the internet was improved here (at Lake Santeetlah Town Hall), somebody could drive up in the parking lot, have a tablet and get online," Reece said.
"We hope this helps out the town and the community."
The town also revealed at the meeting that a recycle trailer was being donated to Graham County. The trailer has been housed outside Lake Santeetlah Town Hall, with residents encouraged to use the two recycling bins at the East Buffalo sanitation center instead.