Robbinsvile – A Bryson City-based internet service provider has begun the process of expanding into Graham County, asking for permission to build an antenna in the Fort Hill community.
Adam Henson of Sky Wave Wireless Internet presented to the Graham County Board of Commissioners at its Nov. 16 meeting, asking for clearance to build the tower so the company can begin serving Graham County customers. He asked to place the antenna in a spot near the 911 communications center. The tower would communicate with existing antennas on Joanna Bald and Wauchecha Bald.
“We find a main hub that’s located right close to the town that we can attach into fiber and then from there, we branch out,” Henson said.
The property Henson is interested in is located on Fort Hill at the 911 center.
“It is a county-owned property, but it happens to be located in an ideal situation where we can tap right into fiber and get data right there to it, but also it sees towers on Joanna Bald and Wauchecha Bald,” Henson said. “Why this is important is if we can put a tower there – and see both those – we can branch out in the county and start serving the whole community.
“It’s like a puzzle: once we get this set up, we can start branching out.”
He said the company would work with the county to find an ideal spot for both on the property. The site itself would be a fenced-in area of about 20 feet by 20 feet. The fenced-in area would contain the tower, as well as a box containing the computer and electrical equipment required for it to operate.
The tower would be installed into a concrete base.
“It will be a self-supporting, 100-foot-tall tower,” Henson said. “The main base at the bottom will be a roughly 14-by-14 square base.”
Henson also told the commissioners that despite it being near the 911 communication center, interference would not be an issue.
“The county has licensed frequencies, and this is a list of all the frequencies from the (Federal Communications Commission) that Graham County is using in the county, and none of our frequencies are close to what’s being used in the county,” Henson said.
He said the company had grant funding to
put the tower in and that its construction would come at no cost to the county.
County Manager Jason Marino said there were some cables and pipes buried in the vicinity, and that he was willing to work with Sky Wave to find a spot that would work for both the county and the company.
Additionally, he encouraged Henson to also discuss the area with the town, since it had utility lines in the vicinity.