Two Systems, One Mission
Ten years of broadband and the work behind keeping service reliable
Most people don’t give much thought to their electricity or internet, and that’s usually a sign we’re doing our job. In my role, I spend a lot of time thinking about what our members need today and what they’re going to need 10 years from now.
Ten years ago, that meant expanding beyond electricity and launching OzarksGo. Reliable internet access had become a requirement to participate in modern society, and many people lacked that access. Because Ozarks had spent decades building an electric infrastructure to service rural areas, we were in a position to offer it.
Today, OzarksGo serves more than 45,000 broadband customers across Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma. In many cases, we were able to connect homes and businesses that had dial-up service or no service at all.
Electricity and broadband are different systems, but the expectation is the same: they need to work when they’re needed. Meeting that expectation takes planning, coordination and long-term investment. Most of that work happens before anyone notices, whether it’s upgrading equipment, staging materials, coordinating fiber attachments or managing vegetation along rights-of-way.
Spring puts that planning to the test when severe weather places stress on our grid. Storm response tends to draw the most attention, but the outcome is shaped months earlier by the investments and preparation that happen quietly in the background.
Our linemen and fiber technicians are central to that work. They maintain the systems our members rely on and often serve as the face of the cooperative in members’ yards and neighborhoods. We’ll recognize Lineman Appreciation Day on April 18, and I hope you’ll join me in thanking the crews who do that work every day.
Costs change. Technology evolves. Expectations increase. Our responsibility as a cooperative is to make measured decisions that protect reliability today while preparing for what members will need tomorrow. That principle guided our decision to invest in broadband 10 years ago, and it will guide our investments in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Mitchell Johnson
President / Chief Executive Officer