Years after broadband internet service came to Henderson, Randa Givens Gary and her family were still living in the dark ages, digitally speaking.
The Garys live in the Little Dixie area, at the southern edge of the county, which had been miles from the nearest broadband wire. Randa Gary said satisfactory internet service was “non-existent.”
“We had just cell-based things,” she said, meaning they relied on hot spots created by their cell phones at home and on fixed wireless service at Givens International Drilling Supplies Inc., the business her late mother, Susie Givens, founded.
“It was exorbitant how much it cost, and just for slow, terrible internet,” Gary said. “When the wind blew, we couldn’t get any internet.”
When her daughter, Isabelle, had to go online for NTI school classes, “it was awful. She couldn’t run her camera, ever.”
Kenergy to the rescue
But early last summer, the Gary family and Givens International entered the 21st century, technologically speaking.
They subscribed to “Connect, powered by Kenergy,” a super-fast fiber-to-home (and rural business) internet service provided by the rural electric co-op in partnership with Conexon Connect, an internet service provider that specializes in serving rural areas.
It’s what is often described as “gig” service, an abbreviation for internet speeds of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) or more—fast enough to not only watch streaming movies or conduct video meetings, but to do so simultaneously on multiple devices, such as computers, tablets, televisions and smartphones. It’s 100 times faster than the first broadband service offered here a generation ago.
The number of Kenergy customers signing up for the fiber service across 14 counties just passed 10,000, according to Conexon.
“It’s amazing. It’s just amazing,” Gary said of the service.
“It’s unreal to be able to sit there at the computer and have instant access to things,” she said.
Isabelle can now effortlessly connect to her classroom via Google Meets, and at night the family can enjoy streaming entertainment services such as YouTube TV, Netflix and Disney Plus.
“That was probably the first thing I did,” Gary said. “I called DirectTV and said, I’m so sorry, but we have to break up.”
“With YouTube TV, we get all the ballgames,” particularly those played by her beloved Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team, she said. “That’s been crazy. I love it. We got it just in time for the Cats to find their hearts again.”
“I can access some stuff from the (public) library—Hoopla and stuff—that I can cast from my phone to the TV,” Gary said. That includes the educational series Great Lectures. “I can be a nerd in my own home,” she said.
And at the office of Givens International, her husband, Bill, and their three employees have world-class connection speeds for running their global business while Randa, who is president of the company, works at her day job as a library media specialist at the Thelma B. Johnson Early Learning Center.
“The best benefit to Givens International, other than being economically better, is that (the company’s) IT (person) can just log in and fix stuff” remotely, Gary said. “I’m not getting the phone calls during the day saying, ‘The computers are down.’”
Kenergy’s fiber construction is being handled by several contractors, including Ervin Cable Construction LLC, which is headquartered in Sturgis and has an office in Henderson, as well as MDR Contracting Services, Rice Contracting and Vonalas.
So far, fiber service is now available to 86% of Kenergy customers in Henderson County, with the first customer here connected in December 2023, according to Conexon Connect spokesperson Alexis Madison. She said the last portion of Henderson County is expected to be completed by early fall 2027.
Meanwhile, in the city …
Henderson Municipal Power & Light and its contractor are busy extending fiber-optic cable throughout its electric service territory, with plans to soon offer it to some Kentucky Utilities customers in or close to the city limits, such as in the Graham Hill and Old Madisonville Road areas.
“We have 215 (home fiber) customers today, and we’re adding 20 to 40 per week,” Brian Hardesty, HMP&L’s chief technology officer, said in an interview last week. That’s in addition to the nearly 500 business customers, including Henderson County Schools, to which HMP&L has provided fiber service for years.
“Everybody loves it,” Hardesty said.
“That’s really not an overstatement,” HMP&L General Manager Brad Bickett said. “Being out in the community, the comments are pretty positive.”
Gig service is transformative for some households. “There can be 20, 30, even 100 devices connected in a single home,” from smartphones, tablets, computers and TVs to security cameras and Ring-style doorbells, Hardesty said.
HMP&L’s construction contractor, D.C.I. (Dotson Construction of Boonville, Indiana), has hung fiber-optic cable on poles in about 60% of HMP&L’s territory so far. “Service is available to just over 5,000 passings,” or customer addresses, Hardesty said. Just last week, the fiber service went live along portions of U.S. 60-East that include the Balmoral, Pebble Creek and The Hills subdivisions.
He expects service to be available to every HMP&L customer by the end of this summer and to certain KU-served areas by the end of this year.
HMP&L and Kenergy offer similar fiber internet packages:
HMP&L and Kenergy offer similar fiber internet packages:
HMP&L packages
HMP&L offers two levels of home fiber service:
- 1 Gigabit service for $79.95 per month.
- 2 Gigabit service for $99.95.
Both come with a Wi-Fi router and a smart phone app. HMP&L is testing parental controls and cybersecurity services, which are expected to become available in three to six months and will be included with the price of gig service.
HMP&L will also soon offer 5 Gigabit service.
Also, home phone service with unlimited local and long-distance service is available for $14.95 per month.
And HMP&L, in conjunction with the MyBundle service, offers a variety of streaming television options.
More information about home HMP&L fiber, including availability, is at www.hmpl.com/home-fiber.
When signing up for the service online, a customer can request an installation date and time. Hardesty said the wait time currently is about two weeks. Home installations are handled by HMP&L employees.
As it has for years, HMP&L also offers fiber internet and phone services for all sizes of businesses, with speeds of up to 10 Gigabits. More information is available at www.hmpl.com/business-fiber.
The HMP&L fiber project is being financed as part of a $21.6 million general obligation bond issued by the city of Henderson.
Kenergy packages
Kenergy/Conexon Connect, meanwhile, offer three levels of home broadband speeds:
- 100 Mbps for $49.95 per month
- 1,000 Mbps (1 Gigabit) for $79.95
- 2,000 Mbps (2 Gigabit) for $99.95
Customers can use their own wireless router, if they choose, but Conexon won’t support or troubleshoot problems.
If they prefer a “managed Wi-Fi service” with tech support, they can rent a Conexon router for $4.95 per month. Those who do so can also subscribe to Conexon’s “safe and secure package,” which includes parental controls as well as network security, for $3 per month. (Both of those services are included with the 2-Gigabit service.)
Additionally, a Wi-Fi extender—useful for expanding the range of the Wi-Fi signal, such as to workshops or outdoor spaces—can be rented for $3 per month. And home phone service with unlimited local and long-distance service is available starting at $29.95 monthly.
Business internet service is also available for Kenergy commercial customers, with prices ranging from $79.95 to $299.95 per month for businesses ranging from fewer than 10 connected devices to more than 25 devices.
More information about fiber service available through Kenergy is available at www.kenergycorp.com/internet.
Kenergy customers can check for the availability and sign up for Conexon Connect service at www.connectsignup.com, or they can call 1-844-542-6663.
Home installations are handled by a Kenergy contractor, Vonalas Inc. Madison said after service is requested, the wait time is typically within 10 business days.
The multi-county Kenergy broadband project is being financed through a $143.7 million loan from the USDA Rural Development agency to install 5,466 miles of backbone fiber, as well as local and state grants, including a $10.2 million state grant.
It is also receiving as much as $4 million in federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds through Henderson Fiscal Court depending on what portion of Kenergy’s 8,300 customers in Henderson County had access to the fiber service as of Dec. 31; as of Feb. 12, the county had paid $2.3 million to Kenergy, with at least one more payment expected, according to county Treasurer Brenda Rider.
Other providers
Meanwhile, in Henderson and portions of Henderson County, legacy internet provider Spectrum offers three speeds (up to 100, 500 or 1,000 Mbps) for $30 to $70 per month for the first year.
Also, AT&T offers fiber service to certain portions of Henderson and reportedly is extending fiber service to other neighborhoods, though an AT&T spokeswoman wasn’t able to provide details. It advertises speeds ranging from 300 Mbps to 5 Gigabits for $70 to $250 per month.
And several cell phone companies offer wireless internet plans here.
