Bruce Schreiner

KentuckyWired hit a speed bump when the planned fiber optic network meant to spread high-speed Internet throughout the state became entangled in longer-than-expected efforts to gain access to utility poles, lawmakers were told. As a result, completion of the project’s initial phases could be delayed by 10 to 12 months, said Chris Moore, executive director of the Kentucky Communications Network Authority, which oversees and maintains the KentuckyWired project. Now the target date for completing those first phases is the third quarter of 2017, he said. The entire project could be wrapped up by the first quarter of 2019 — about four to eight months later than anticipated, Moore said.

The slowdown in the initial phases drew concern as a Kentucky legislative panel received an update on the vast project’s progress. “Now why would it take that long?” said state Rep Rita Smart (D-Richmond). Moore said that 85 percent of the fiber optic cables will be attached to utility poles, mostly in rural areas. The rest of the cables will be placed underground, mainly in urban areas. Project managers had to obtain agreements from owners of the poles, he said. “We ran into delays in getting pole attachment agreements with two of the largest pole owners in the commonwealth,” Moore said. Those agreements are now in hand, he said. But another potential slowdown has been obtaining easements from private landowners, he said. Potential cost overruns are “yet to be fully developed,” but project managers are working to minimize any additional costs, he said.