HASKINS, Ohio — Monday marked the first day of fiber internet installation in a Wood County village.
Amplex, an internet provider in northwest Ohio, is working with the village of Haskins to provide better internet services to businesses and residents.
Village Administrator Colby Carroll said the upgrade will help many people who need high-speed internet on a day-to-day basis and even those who may lack any access to internet at all living in a rural and small community.
"You get into a larger metropolitan area, you may have four or five cable companies that provide service to you so you can select the one that fits your needs," Carroll said. "In our area that just doesn't exist, and you're getting more into the rural areas, you may not have any service or may only have one option. And sometimes that option doesn't fit your needs."
At the very least, residents will have the option if they do want to upgrade.
"To be able to pick and choose what they want and what fits their needs the best, I think it's more of an opportunity for people that just never existed before," Carroll said.
Doug Nelisse, chief operating officer of Amplex, says the company enjoys working with small communities like Haskins, acknowledging the growing need for high-speed internet.
"Folks are working from home which is very important," he said. "We have folks that need to get on the internet or somebody, a professional, be a doctor needs to get on and look at an x-ray or needs to get on and look at a document and doesn't want to spend a lot of time waiting."
Since Amplex is a local provider, Nelisse said people in Haskins will be able to get service that may be quicker than other providers and better service in general as the company's employees can easily drive to their homes.
"They're going to get reliable service, they're going to get it at a good cost, they're going be able to choose several different plans and which one's are right for them," he said.
Carroll said the local accessibility serves as an advantage, too.
"It makes it that much more important because it's not a corporation that's maybe housed 10 or 15 states away and these folks live here, they live and commute through our community," Carroll said.
For the next few months, the village will be installing the internet in phases. Nelisse said people can expect to get on a plan in around 90 days.