Emery Telcom bringing fiber and more to San Juan County

After recently completing a six-year plan to bring fiber to residents of Carbon and Emery counties, Emery Telcom has been looking for funding mechanisms to complete a similar project in Grand and San Juan counties.

Emery Telcom will host two community meetings to answer questions about E-Fiber. The first is at the Hideout Community Center on Thursday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Another meeting will be held at the Blanding Arts & Events Center on Tuesday, January 25 at 6:30 p.m.

Emery Telcom has partnered with the USDA through the Community Connect and Reconnect programs to bring fiber to Castle Valley, La Sal, Eastland, and Mexican Hat.

The Castle Valley and first phase of the La Sal project are nearing completion. The Mexican Hat project is currently under construction and the other projects are in permitting.

Emery Telcom also participated in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which will provide funding over the next six years to bring fiber to many residents in Grand and San Juan counties.

In April 2020, Emery Telcom through two newly formed subsidiaries, E-Fiber Moab, LLC, and E-Fiber San Juan, LLC, filed an application for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to allow them to be a rate-of-return regulated telephone company in the counties of
Grand and San Juan. This application was granted in 2021.

This allows the new entities to be regulated by telephone companies in the counties and allows access to the Utah Universal Service Fund to help complete the fiber-to-the-home project in Grand and San Juan.

With access to these various funding mechanisms, the Emery Telcom companies are planning to do a five-year fiber-to-the-home build-out project for almost all of Grand and San Juan counties.

“We are excited to partner with the state of Utah, USDA, and FCC to engage in this awesome infrastructure project,” said Brock Johansen, CEO of Emery Telcom. “Fiber-to-the-home will be an amazing benefit to Grand and San Juan counties.

The projects do not extend to the White Mesa Ute Reservation and Navajo Nation. While E-Fiber San Juan did get funding to bring fiber to the residents on the White Mesa Ute Reservation, the tribal management has filed legal proceedings to prevent such build-out.

Emery Telcom is working with the Utah Education and Telehealth Network to bring fiber to the Utah schools on both the White Mesa Ute Reservation and the Navajo Nation.