Bonnie Baty discusses Phase I of the Sprout fiber rollout at Colony’s town council meeting in August 2021.

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Cullman County received another option for internet service this year when the Cullman Electric Cooperative’s Sprout fiber internet went live for its first customers in January and continues to expand across the county. 

Sprout, which was first announced by the co-op last June, is a high-speed fiber internet service that is expected to give gigabit-speed internet access to around 12,000 of the co-op’s members as part of its first phase. The first paying customer was in Berlin, and began receiving the service on Jan. 18. 

“This truly is a historic moment, much like when the first residents in the region received electricity,” Cullman Electric Cooperative CEO Tim Culpepper said with the announcement of the first live customer. “This technology carries the same potential to improve the quality of life for our members.” 

For Phase 1 of the Sprout service, the co-op has installed the main line fiber in a clockwise pattern its service area, centering around connecting its electrical substations to make sure they have the best internet possible.

The installation of that main line is close to 75 percent completed, and is projected to be completed in the spring of 2022, Co-op Communications Manager Brian Lacy said in September. 

In November, the co-op announced Phase 2 of the service’s rollout to be able to reach more of the co-op’s members and continue working towards its goal of having high-speed fiber internet available to every member. 

“We served a lot of members in Phase 1, but we know many areas still don’t have access,” Culpepper said with the announcement of Phase 2. “For the first phase of this project, we focused on what we could accomplish in the first year. That’s what we are going to continue to do moving forward. We have looked at what we can accomplish in 2022, and we feel we can provide Sprout to even more members. We have built a solid foundation for Sprout, and now we’re ready to grow it.”

In September, Sprout Marketing Coordinator Bonnie Baty encouraged anyone interested in Sprout to visit cullmanec.com/sprout to fill out the interest form. For those who fill out the form and find that they can sign up now or will be able to sign up as part of Phase 1, she encouraged them to do so, and for those who are not included in the first phase, their interest will be noted by filling out that form. 

“We will continue to work toward our goal of branching off what has already been built and planning to keep Sprout growing as long as the need is there, members are subscribing and other members continue to express interest in additional areas,” she said.