MTC looks to expand services into nearby communities

By Brian Sweeney
Margaretville Telephone Company (MTC) hopes to soon expand services to the towns of Halcott, Gilboa and Conesville.

The cable franchise proposals will be the subject of upcoming public hearings in the townships. If the municipalities agree to allow MTC to establish franchises, the expansion projects are expected to commence by summer.

General Manager Glen Faulkner said that since there are no cable franchises in these communities, the approval process is lengthy. He said local governments must sign off on the franchise agreements to allow the cable company to operate in the municipalities’ rights-of-way.
He noted that initial work on this expansion began several years ago when MTC Cable applied for funding assistance through the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to provide broadband services.

CWC is assisting
Mr. Faulkner said that MTC had a matching funds commitment from the Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) when it applied for the ARRA grants.

The grant application was denied, but MTC continued discussions with the townships about the bringing cable TV, broadband and phone services to these communities.
The CWC has since agreed to increase its commitment to $250,000 to match MTC’s investment in the projects to make the franchise expansion feasible.

Mr. Faulkner said his company currently provides service as far north as Grand Gorge. He explained that the expansion into Gilboa and Conesville would add about 20 miles of line to the service area and would potentially add serve about 300 homes and businesses.

Mr. Faulkner noted that MTC already provides broadband to Gilboa Central School as part of the company’s extension of BOCES services.

He indicated that the initial expansion into the Town of Halcott will focus on bringing MTC’s services to the immediate area around the town hall. Some customers in the Town of Middletown would be added along the extension from Fleischmanns, Mr. Faulkner said.

He said that MTC is planning to create a small computer center with high-speed Internet access for public use, at the Halcott Town Hall. This center would be built as part of the project’s initial phase.
Mr. Faulkner said the town has committed some funds to the project. He explained that additional funding is being explored from Greene County and other economic development sources as a means of building out services to more of the town.

The system build-outs would bring state-of-the-art fiber-optic lines right to customers’ homes. The MTC general manager said that some wireless components to provide service in rural valleys might be added, at some point.

Mr. Faulkner said, if approvals are granted, work on the extension projects would probably start this summer. Portions of the systems would be operational by the end of the end and project completion would be targeted for the end of 2013.