Why Does MEC Make Such a Big Deal About Fiber?

Published by Terry Rubenthaler on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 in Internet

Ten years ago, I was stuck in an internet no-man’s-land. No one would serve me with anything close to reliable broadband. I suspect many of you had the same experience. In desperation, I tried just about everything. Have you ever heard of MiFi? MiFi is a type of wireless router that acts as a dedicated mobile hotspot using cellular service to connect your home to the internet. Well, you can imagine my frustration in trying to stream with the 3G cell service we had back then.

I also personally experienced the empty promise from other providers. One day, while shopping at Menards, a representative from a large cable provider was selling service. He swore up and down that if I signed up, they would build to me. Challenge accepted! I signed up knowing full well they would not show. Sadly, I was right, and the only service I got was watching one of their trucks drive by my house. Does all this sound familiar?

These experiences, and the frustration that goes with them, is why I’m so passionate about fiber. It transformed my life, and it certainly transformed MEC.

I couldn’t imagine in 2014 where we’d be today, but I’m proud to share that we closed out 2024 with over 30,000 fiber customers. About 19,000 are also electric customers, and 11,000 are from our expansion projects. To put that in perspective, we serve almost two thirds of our electric customers with broadband. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come in such a short time.

Our current expansion projects will wrap up at the end of 2026. However, if you had the chance to read last month’s column, you might recall that I mentioned that we’ve begun evaluating another opportunity, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program.

Why do we keep pursuing these expansion efforts? Well, there are still thousands of rural residents and businesses left in the internet dark. In fact, I’ve attended township meetings where people have literally pounded on a table declaring their need for internet. I’d venture to guess you can ask any of your rural local elected officials, and everyone will tell you highspeed internet access is a top priority.

Additionally, the more we grow, the stronger we become as a whole. As the old adage goes, rising waters lift all boats. While we can’t subsidize our electric service with fiber or vice versa, having more customers makes us financially stronger overall, spreads shared costs across all our business lines, and gives us a bigger voice when working with public officials.

Let’s not forget the impact on the local economy. According to a 2023 study by the Fiber Broadband Association, fiber service, specifically, can increase your home’s value by almost 5%. Fiber enables businesses to stay competitive and innovate and allows people to work and learn from home. Plus, it creates jobs.

Take MEC, for example. In January 2014, we employed 102 people; today, we employ 176. Most of that growth is thanks to fiber. That’s a huge boon for the communities we serve and in which these employees live.

When we say our vision is to create vibrant, relevant, sustainable rural communities, this is what we mean. We want to make our rural area a place people are proud—and able—to call home. As for that old MiFi router of mine, it makes a good paperweight.