The leadership and Boards of Directors of Franklin County Water Service Authority (FCWSA), Franklin Electric Cooperative (FEC) and Tombigbee Electric Cooperative/Communications (TEC) are pleased to announce they have executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding fiber optic broadband service for rural Franklin County.

The MOU is an outline for the completion of a final agreement that will provide fiber optic broadband service to the entire membership of FEC.

The provision of this service is subject to: a) the completion and approval of a formal agreement between the parties; b) any applicable approvals from government or regulatory authorities and; c) TEC’s successful acquisition of adequate financing from federal grants. Following those, TEC must also obtain normal applicable permits or permissions to begin the build-out of the system.

We would like to reiterate that for this project to move forward, all requirements in the above paragraph must be met.

We would like to thank Steve Foshee and the TEC Board of Directors, Randy Schultz, Scott Mugno and the FCWSA Board of Directors, Franklin County Officials and our State Representative.

As manager, I would like to express my thanks to the FEC Board of Directors. While we completely understand the necessity of broadband service, they have been tasked with approving a plan that works best for Franklin Electric Co-op and the entire membership. We feel that this is that plan.

As this project moves forward we will provide updates.

Sincerely,

Mark Stockton

Manager