Eagle Communications Upgrade a go in St. Francis

Story originally published here.

Eagle Communications announced this week a major milestone had been reached in the planned broadband upgrades project in the community of St. Francis, a move that will bring high-speed internet access to residents and businesses.

Eagle, working alongside with the St. Francis Internet Committee volunteers, reached 210 early signups, meaning the upgrade will proceed as planned.

"The support of the community of St. Francis has been simply amazing,' said Travis Kohlrus, Eagle Communications General Manager. "With the signup milestone reached, Eagle is moving as quickly as possible to bring St. Francis fast, reliable and affordable broadband access."

Beginning in May, crews will be in St. Francis installing fiber optics and electronic equipment designed to support all future Internet of Things. Scheduling customer installations could begin as early as June.

Eagle has been working with the St. Francis Internet Committee since early 2016 to assess the St. Francis community’s broadband wants and needs. This includes the preparation and submission of a USDA grant application for broadband funding that was unsuccessful, due to the government’s assessment of adequate broadband coverage with 4G LTE services.

"After the grant submission process, Eagle quickly came to the conclusion that the community is ready and waiting for the speed and reliability of Eagle’s services," said Marty Melia, Account Executive. "We look forward to showing St. Francis what it means to be part of 'Our Community … Connected.' "
Eagle will continue working closely with community leaders and the committee, over the next two months, to sign up new residential and business customers. Existing Eagle customers will be upgraded to the newly offered speeds and telephone.  For more information about the product offerings or to sign up early, visit http://www.eaglecom.net/stfrancisfiber/ or call 877-613-2453.

"Fast and reliable internet is important to any size community. Our committee realizes the value of a partnership with a company like Eagle Communications. We know it will support the future growth of our businesses, keep up with the needs our schools and our residents, as well as provide job opportunities,” said Robert Grace, Internet Committee member. “Now that we’ve achieved our goal, we look forward to continuing to help get people signed up and look forward to watching the progress of the build and installations."

The St. Francis Internet Committee members are Kelly Frewen, Rob Schiltz, J.R. Landenberger, Robert Grace, Eric Harper, and Jason Padgett.

For more information, visit http://www.eaglecom.net/stfrancisfiber/, or the local committee's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FibertothePremisesinStFrancis.