Local efforts to improve internet service in Nuckolls County have again been stymied.

The plan developed by South Central Public Power, Glenwood Telecommunications and the Nebraska Public Power District was supported locally but did not find the needed state level support for immediate implementation. The plan however, has not been abandoned. Supporters are continuing to look for a way to move it to completion.

An application formulated by South Central and Glenwood was one of 76 applications submitted to the Nebraska Broadband Bridge Program. With $20 million allocated the new fund is in its first year, the applicants requested $36 million.

Sixty of the 76 were funded for a total of $17.8 million. The local application was one of several challenged because they overlapped with another company’s existing service area where fiber optic service was either installed or planned.

Had the plan been approved, South Central would have added fiber optic lines to existing electrical lines. Glenwood would have used the fiber to offered high-speed internet service to South Central customers throughout Nuckolls and adjoining counties. The fiber optic technology offers faster internet speeds than are possible with the copper lines often used for telephone service.

Windstream challenged the application and claimed to be adequately serving the area’s needs.

South Central and Glenwood dispute that claim and contend speed tests conducted in the proposed area did not report the claimed speeds.

Several years ago, the Superior utilities department cooperated with other local entities, received grants and installed a fiber optic loop which connected the hospital, schools, library, Public Safety Building and city offices. At that time, the city utility department planned to utilize the fiber loop and offer a wireless internet service throughout the community. The planned service would have been faster than the dial up option then available in the community but would not have been as fast as the current fiber system.

However, existing service providers did not want electric companies to provide internet services and appealed to the legislature. The Nebraska legislature subsequently passed legislation which has kept electric utilities from adding internet service. The Glenwood and South Central partnership is seen as way around the legislation.

Superior’s fiber optic loop was sold to Glenwood which used it as a building block when expanding high-speed broadband service based on fiber optic technology throughout Superior.

Superior customers now can select broadband services from several providers which offer both wired and wireless connections to the worldwide web at various speeds. Residents in the rural areas and other communities do not have the same options.