2014: Year in Review

Member Growth

We are proud to now have 130 members! Businesses make up about 75%, and the rest are divided between medical facilities (15%), schools, libraries and colleges( 8%), and government organizations (2%).

Achievements

We have experienced many exciting technical and community milestones this year:

Unprecedented Reliability

Our network has experienced 100% uptime since late 2012. That means constant connectivity for professionals, retailers,  teachers, administrators, doctors, nurses, patients, librarian patrons, and students.

Dawson GigCenter Launch

In March, The Development Authority of Dawson County (DADC) partnered with GCC to establish The Dawson GigCenter, which offers a 1 Gbps fiber optic internet connection to entrepreneurs, consultants, and small businesses in a common location with the goal of accelerating their growth. GCC is proud to support ideamakers and entrepreneurs in Dawson County!

Education Exchange Launch

The Education Exchange expanded to include partnerships across North Georgia, potentially impacting 300 schools across 33 counties.  NGN officially launched a formal partnership with ETC Communications based in Ellijay, Ga and Parker FiberNet in Rome, Ga on August 28 to expand the platform that our members in White County have been utilizing for two years. This 10-Gigabit school-to-school network empowers teachers and students to share instructional material, textbooks, classroom resources and administrative assets with unprecedented speed and reliability.

Network Expansion

Several new partnerships have been established in 2014 with networks that include LIT Networks in Virginia andBalsamWest in North Carolina. These interconnect agreements provide even greater speed and redundancy for NGN carriers and enterprise users.

Over the next year,  NGN will work to expand eastward to cover new parts of Georgia where broadband needs are highest. Extensive engineering and marketing analysis tools have been employed to expand in the smartest way possible.

As a member-owner of NGN, GCC will have the opportunity to bring broadband products to more and more businesses, schools, hospitals, and governments as the network expands across the state.

2015 Vision

 

We have a lot of exciting plans for 2015! Some of our goals are to:

Increase wireless concentration in Dawsonville & Dahlonega
Increase focus on health care and telehealth
Increase work with government organizations to help improve disaster preparedness
Build on strategic partnerships that expand broadband access to more Georgians
With strong leadership of staff and Directors, GCC is positioned to continue impacting Northeast Georgia in tremendous ways, while bringing first-class products to organizations that recognize the value of connectivity within rural Georgia.