Around 230 Aiken County residents could be getting broadband internet service with the next few months.
Spectrum is expanding its broadband network into Aiken County communities like Aiken, New Ellenton, Spiderweb, Jackson, Eureka, Salley, Windsor, Graniteville and Kitchings Mill.
The Federal Communications Commission defines broadband internet as internet with download speeds of at least 25 megabytes per second and upload speeds of 5 megabytes per second.
Spectrum's internet service is much faster. The company offers speeds up to 1 gigabyte per second with starting speeds of 300 megabytes per second. The company has also begun a network evolution that will provide gigabit upstream speeds and multiple gigabit download speeds across its entire 41-state service area.
Spectrum will serve around 3,200 customers in Aiken County by the end of the year, Public Relations Director Patrick Paterno said Wednesday.
The company's Aiken County expansion is made possible by the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, Alex Gonzalez, vice president of the South Carolina market for Spectrum, said Wednesday.
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is a federal effort to provide broadband internet connections to rural areas. Congressman Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., has long been an advocate of connecting rural areas to broadband service.
"After the pandemic, there was a big need of broadband internet," Gonzalez said. "We had a lot of places that we just didn't have the source to provide high-speed internet to a lot of schools and a lot of people working from home."
Gonzalez added Spectrum has received a lot of cooperation from local government officials who want to bring high-speed internet to as many people as possible.
"Everybody is joining forces because we all want this for the general public," Gonzalez said.
