Cherokee County will have the services of two Internet providers — a primary and a backup — under contracts worth more than $1.9 million total recently approved by the Board of Commissioners.
The county, which relies on the Internet for phone, fax and data, accepted a $1.3 million proposal from Comcast as primary Internet/WAN carrier, and a $609,325 proposal from Windstream as redundant Internet/WAN carrier. The agreements have five-year terms with options for a price evaluation at year three.
According to the agenda packet for a recent commissioners’ meeting, “(The) county currently is operating on single point of failure and limited Internet bandwidth capacity that has caused delay and at times disruption of service.”
A request for proposals was issued seeking reliability, redundancy and increased bandwidth at key locations in the county. Five proposals were received, and Comcast and Windstream were selected based on lowest prices and best scores.
“This is about $4,000 more per month than we pay today, but it’s substantially more enhanced service to our facilities,” County Manager Jerry Cooper told commissioners.
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