PES Fiber Expansion Update

September 11, 2025

We’re excited to share the latest on our community-wide fiber project. With your support and patience, we’re closing in on the finish line!

Where We Stand

  • ✅ 97% of construction complete
  • ✅ 570 of 590 miles of fiber built
  • ✅ 4,710 new homes and businesses ready for high-speed internet (200 more to go!)
  • ✅ 2,140 poles replaced (70 more to go)
  • ✅ 590 miles of vegetation cleared
  • 💰 $32.5 million invested so far (with $2.5 million in work and invoices still to complete)

Phase 1

Complete

Phase 2

Complete

Phase 3 (9 Areas)

We’re working through the final customer installations:

  • Areas 1, 2, 3 – Complete
  • Area 4 – 18 customers remaining (11 installed by Sept. 12)
  • Area 5 & 7 – Work now led by PES crews; ongoing for several weeks
  • Area 6 – 14 customers remaining
  • Area 8 – 13 customers remaining (5 installed within the next week)
  • Area 9 – 22 homes to be completed by Highland Construction starting Sept. 5; customers will be contacted as drops are finalized

Phase 4 (5 Areas)

Mainline and drops are complete! Installations are underway and expected to finish by Sept. 19.
👉 If you’re in this phase and haven’t heard from us, please give PES a call so we can schedule your installation.

Phase 5 (New!)

We’re gearing up for our next round of expansion:

  • Engineering & Right-of-Way Clearing – Complete
  • Pole Replacements – 70 of 134 finished
  • Construction – Divided into 4 projects due to material lead times (15–18 weeks).
    • Project 1 (Fall River, Johnson Branch) begins Sept. 8 and should finish by Dec. 1.
    • Project 2 (Charlie Howell Rd) expected completion by Dec. 15.
    • Projects 3 & 4 – Target completion by Dec. 31, with installations beginning Jan. 2026. Locations to be released soon.

Residents in Project Area 1 are being contacted now to join the waitlist.
👉 Stay tuned — our website map will be updated next month to show Project Areas 3 & 4.

Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

The state has divided Giles County into three project areas (PAUs). Here’s how things shake out:

  • PAU 1 (Southwest Giles) – PES was NOT awarded; appears likely to go to one of the satellite providers (Amazon or Starlink).
  • PAU 3 (Southeast Giles, 3 locations) – PES was NOT awarded. No new BEAD funding, but we have approval to finish these locations using Tennessee Emergency Broadband Funds (TEBF). This work is included in Phase 5.
  • PAU 2 (North of Hwy 64) – PES did not apply. There were no homes eligible in the grant inside the PES service territory.

The state will release additional information on BEAD awards soon.

Thank You!

Every mile of fiber and every pole replaced is an investment in our community’s future. Thank you for your patience and support as we work to deliver fast, reliable fiber internet to every home and business we serve.