A company that installs fiber optic cable told McComb selectmen at a Tuesday work session that it wants to outfit McComb, Magnolia and Summit with a network that would allow the cities to sell high-speed telephone, cable television and Internet service.
Three representatives from Mainstream Fiber Network outlined the $13 million proposal the company says would bring 27 jobs and revenue to city coffers and lower residents’ costs of such services by 25 percent.
“We’re talking about a life-changing event the way we see it,” said Mainstream CEO Terry Drury.
Drury said the network would come with a $6 million regional operations center that would be set up in McComb or Pike County as the company expands into other parts of the state, as well as 1,000 computers donated to city schools and community centers.
Drury said the cost of installing the network would be covered by 20-year bonds that would be paid back with subscription fees, not a tax increase. If the project fails, the bonding company would seize infrastructure associated with it, and tax dollars would not be in jeopardy.
At the end of the hour-long presentation Drury asked that board to vote on the project at next week’s board meeting.
However, Mayor Zach Patterson said the board could not decide that soon and he wanted more time for selectmen to think it over.
“This is a risky venture,” the mayor said.
Drury said this morning that if selectmen didn’t decide by their July 24 meeting he would pull out of McComb and pitch the project to Magnolia, Summit or Pike County officials.
Pike County and its municipalities could band together on the project and issue the bonds as a regional authority and not one municipality, Drury said.
“It insulates the cities from ever having risk,” he said.
The group of cities could form a committee to plan cable television programming and set subscription rates.
The day-to-day operation of the network would be handled by Mainstream workers who would take care of maintenance, customer service and bill collection. Mainstream, in turn, would receive a monthly percentage subscription revenue, Drury said.
In 2006 the city board voted to conduct a $24,000 feasibility study with Mainstream, which had initially approached the city in 2005 before Hurricane Katrina interrupted negotiations.
Drury projected that it would take about 13 months to build the network and another four before the city would see revenue from it.
Drury said the McComb network would be the first for the 3-year-old Florida-based firm to set up.
He cited findings from a survey of 300 residents, most of whom said said they would switch from their current cable television or Internet service provider if the network was in place.
However, Drury also mentioned that only about 16 percent of McComb residents use computers often. “Which is dismal,” Patterson added.
Drury said the main target is cable television subscribers.
“People pay the cable bill before they pay the water bill,” he said after the meeting.
However, Patterson said after the meeting he is apprehensive about encroaching on private business.
“I don’t want to get into a tech race,” Patterson said.
Patterson added he did not want to rush into the project, noting that the city already has its hands full with building a new $24 million wastewater treatment facility and completing the McComb Sports Park.
Drury said time constraints from the bonding company that would back the project financially as well as incentives offered by the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act require a deal to be reached soon.
