Osage County will have more high-speed internet options thanks to a partnership between Cox Cable and Indian Electric Cooperatives.
Indian Electric Cooperative serves about 500 customers in Fairfax, and Cox is using their power lines to provide high-speed internet via fiber-optic cable.
Today, Fairfax is famous for being the filming location of Killers of the Flower Moon, but it’s not known for its good internet connections.
“It’s absolutely necessary,” said resident Kay Beers.
Kay Bills is a founding member of Friends of Fairfax, a nonprofit organization dedicated to growing the local economy. The group planned to build an art gallery and office space on Main Street, but needed reliable high-speed internet to thrive.
“Of course we’re not just going to market in Fairfax or Oklahoma or Osage County, but we’re going to go international through the Internet,” Beals said.
Fairfax already has some internet options, but Indian Electric Cooperative’s Brandi Ball said the company wants to provide better access to residents here.
“Our main goal is to serve people,” Ball said.
In partnership with Cox Communications, the internet provider will lease IEC’s power lines to bring its fiber-optic internet to Fairfax and other rural communities.
“We think we already have the infrastructure, we’re going to use the poles that we already have, and we’re going to use that to deliver state-of-the-art broadband service high-speed internet to people’s homes,” Ball said.
Over the next few years, IEC’s 14,000 customers in seven counties will have access to high-speed Internet. Roger Ramseyer, a vice president in Cox, Oklahoma, said the need for better internet is clear.
“We’ve had reports from people who have been calling us over the years saying, ‘When are you coming to our community,’ and it’s a very humbling opportunity to be able to provide that certainty,” Ramsay said. A connection that changes their lives.” .
Kay Bills said her community will benefit as more people get involved.
“We have all the community pieces here and all the communication is going to tie them together and you’re going to see Fairfax grow,” Beals said.
Cox said they are currently reaching out to schools and businesses, such as those on Main Street, to provide them with high-speed internet. They also plan to offer cheaper internet packages to low-income families.