Georgia's Grady EMC Partners With Internet Service Provider Conexon Connect To Bring World-Class Broadband To Rural Homes And Businesses In Southwest Georgia

Kansas City, MO /PRNewswire/ - Conexon Connect, the internet service provider formed by rural fiber-optic network design and construction management leader, Conexon, has been selected by Grady EMC to deliver high-speed fiber internet access for rural Georgians living and working in the cooperative's service area.

Grady EMC and Conexon Connect will launch and deploy a fiber-to-the-home network initially in Grady County where the co-op received American Rescue Plan Act funding. Additional funding will be sought to enable the partners to expand fiber broadband access to all of Grady EMC's 13,000+ members across Grady, Decatur and Thomas counties.

The lightning-fast fiber-optic network will offer members access to symmetrical (same upload and download speeds) multi-gigabit internet capabilities. Additionally, it will provide reliable, clear phone service and enable the benefits of smart grid capabilities to the electrical infrastructure, including improved power outage response times, better load balancing, more efficient electricity delivery and more.

"Broadband service is as essential for our members today as electricity was for them when Grady EMC was created in 1936," said Grady EMC President and CEO, John Long. "This essential service in today's society is why we decided to advocate for Grady County and ultimately members across all our counties by applying for funding. We are excited about this opportunity and the partnership with Conexon Connect that will allow us to bring this much-needed service."

Conexon and Conexon Connect work with electric cooperatives who are committed to serving their members with fiber broadband. With its clients, the company has designed more than 200,000 miles of fiber, builds more than 50,000 miles of fiber annually and has connected more than 500,000 rural Americans to fiber to the home.

"We are pleased to partner with John and the team at Grady EMC and to add to our growing base of subscribers and co-op partners in Georgia," Conexon Founding Partner and Conexon Connect CEO, Randy Klindt said. "We share with Grady a strong commitment to rural broadband and an understanding of its life-changing impact in the communities it serves."

About Conexon Connect
Conexon Connect is the internet service provider (ISP) arm of rural fiber broadband design and construction management leader Conexon. The subsidiary was formed to operate and manage cooperative fiber-to-the-home networks. Connect leverages Conexon's decades of co-op operations, fiber-optic design and construction, telecommunications, federal and state lobbying and customer experience management expertise to successfully launch and operate projects. The Connect approach is to work with electric cooperatives to launch and deploy high-speed fiber-optic networks – the gold standard of communications transmission – enabling them to offer world-class fiber broadband to their members. Connect today is partnering with multiple cooperatives in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri.

About Conexon
Conexon works with Rural Electric Cooperatives to bring fiber to the home in rural communities. The company is comprised of professionals who have worked in electric cooperatives and the telecommunications industry and offer decades of individual experience in business planning, building networks, marketing and selling telecommunications. Conexon offers its electric cooperative clients end-to-end broadband deployment and operations support, from a project's conception all the way through to its long-term sustainability. It works with clients to analyze economic feasibility, secure financing, design the network, manage construction, provide operational support, optimize business performance and determine optimal partnerships. To date, Conexon has assisted more than 275 electric cooperatives, 75 of which are deploying fiber networks, with more than 500,000 rural Americans connected to fiber to the home. The company has secured nearly $2 billion in federal, state and local grants and subsidies for its clients.

About Grady EMC
Grady EMC has been proudly serving South Georgians since 1936 and serves over 13,000 members across Grady, Decatur and Thomas counties with over 3,000 miles of energized line.