Small Kentucky community will have high-speed internet for the first time

BERRY, Ky. ( FOX 56 ) — The small community of Berry has a little more than 300 residents, all of whom have struggled with internet connection in the rural area.

That soon will be a problem of the past.

High-speed internet might be something other communities take for granted, but for the tight-knit town of Berry, the news that a high-speed connection is coming for the town’s 350 residents was a huge celebration.

“I’m just overwhelmed. Just absolutely overwhelming. Truly, I feel like God truly blessed us here today,” Mayor Keith Ison said.

Charter Communications announced the franchise agreement to bring broadband service there, making Berry the 10,000 ^th community to get connected, something residents like John Walker said they have needed.

“The service is really tough down here for people. They have to drive up to the cemetery to get service and stuff, so this will be a really awesome thing for Berry,” Walker said.

High-speed connection opens the doors for local businesses and relieves a lot of what the school district has had to deal with. Harrison County Schools Assistant Superintendent Jenny Lynn Hatter said this is exciting for the world of education.

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“We had to close the tutoring center here down because the connectivity was really poor and kids needed to work on devices as they needed to work on programs. We tried hard, but nothing worked, so this has been so incredibly exciting to find a way to connect our students, and we’ll be able to do so many things with their generosity,” Lynn Hatter said.

The cost is $37 million, with Charter Communications contributing $14 million, and the rest comes from the Commonwealth’s Better Internet Program and contributions by the county through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Once Charter Communications gets the needed permitting and utility pole attachment agreements, network construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2025.

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