Local News

Tusayan Council Frustrated Over Lack of Progress For High Speed Internet

February 16, 2018

 The internet may be slow in Tusayan, and so is progress in getting the town fiber optic service. That frustration was expressed during the February 7th Town Council meeting. It has been several years since Tusayan hired a consultant to find a way to bring fiber optic service to town and there has been little to show for those efforts.

Councilman John Schoppmann wants to see some changes when it comes to the consultant, “This guy has been stringing us along for five years. We don’t have more answers than we did a year ago.” 

Instead of changing horses, the Council decided to bring on a second consultant to monitor the work being done so far.
For years the Council has been looking for a way to bring high speed internet to town by running fiber optic cable from Williams to Tusayan and eventually to the Grand Canyon National Park.
 
The Town Council is moving ahead to put fiber option cable into the conduits that are already in place in Tusayan. 
The Town is also in talks with providers who could provide a temporary solution by capturing the internet via microwave signals and then sending that signal into the local fiber optic network. This service would be faster than what is already in place but slower than a direct connection via fiber optics.
 
The Town Council also voted to delay seeking bids related to brining fiber optics to town while the consultant issue is being resolved.