• Texas (23 miles): Completed
• Byrd (9 miles): Completed
• Gum Branch (15 miles): Completed
• Cowtails (64 miles/528 homes): Completed
• Reevesville / Shady Grove (60 miles/828 homes): Completed
• Indian Field (12 miles): Completed
• Rosinville (27 miles/810 homes): Completed
• First and Second Texas (34 miles/466 homes): Completed
• Gettysville (40 miles/417 homes): Completed
• Spring Branch (10 miles/171 homes): Completed
• Thomas Kate Road (9 miles/119 homes): Completed
• South Dorchester (43 miles/455 homes): Completed
• Herdons Pond (14 miles/236 homes): Completed
• Taylors Pond (12 miles/200 homes): Completed

Project History 

Dorchester County Government announced a public-private partnership with both Home Telecom and Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC) that would expand high-speed internet access to the western part of the county over a period of three years.

“Our goal is to help close the technology gap for many of our county’s rural residents who have historically had extremely limited options for accessing the internet. We are grateful to Home Telecom and PRTC for their partnership in this project and look forward to providing better access to high-speed internet for those living in the western part of the county,” said Dorchester County Councilwoman Harriet Holman.

Expanding access to high-speed internet was a priority as it provides opportunities for business development, job creation, and economic growth while helping to bridge the digital divide for residents. As recently learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, internet connectivity is essential for students to learn remotely while gaining valuable 21st century technology skills that prepare them for the future. Those elementary, middle, and high school students in Dorchester School District Two and Dorchester School District Four will now be able to participate in virtual learning and experience interactive educational resources from their homes. High-speed internet also delivers quality healthcare services by linking patients to their providers which ultimately improves the health of communities. Individuals will now have access to an affordable portfolio of virtual services by healthcare providers including the nationally recognized MUSC Center for Telehealth. Whether working from home, attending school online, or seeing a healthcare provider virtually, access to high-speed internet offers a myriad of benefits that will improve the community.

The $17.1 million investment was subsidized through matching funds provided by Home Telecom and PRTC along with a maximum grant of $8.5 Million from the American Rescue Plan Act. This partnership would result in 325 miles of buried fiber to more than 4,100 homes that did not have access to adequate high-speed internet service. This allows both vendors to offer a high-quality fiber network that provides extremely fast download and upload speeds of up to 1 Gbps (1024 Mbps).

The project was to be implemented in five phases over next three years and would include the following communities:

• Cowtail (64 miles/528 homes): Approximate Completion Q3 2023
• Reevesville / Shady Grove (60 miles/828 homes): Approximate Completion Q1 2023
• Indian Field (12 miles): Approximate Completion Q3 2023
• Rosinville (27 miles/810 homes): Approximate Completion Q1 2024
• First and Second Texas (34 miles/466 homes): Approximate Completion Q3 2023
• Geddisville (40 miles/417 homes): Approximate Completion Q2 2024
• Spring Branch (10 miles/171 homes): Approximate Completion Q4 2022
• Thomas Kate Road (9 miles/119 homes): Approximate Completion Q4 2022
• South Dorchester (43 miles/455 homes): Approximate Completion Q4 2023
• Herdons Pond (14 miles/236 homes): Approximate Completion Q4 2023
• Taylor Pond (12 miles/200 homes): Approximate Completion Q1 2024

“PRTC is very excited to partner with Dorchester County and Home Telecom to extend fiber optic broadband services to the rural residents of Dorchester County. As a cooperative and local company, we have strong affinity for serving rural communities that are often left behind by larger providers. This joint effort will be a difference maker for those in need of quality broadband services.” said Jason Dandridge, PRTC’s CEO.

"Fiber is widely acknowledged to be a future-proof technology, " said William Helmly, Home Telecom's CEO. Helmly continues, "By providing access to this technology to some of the most rural areas in our communities, we have the opportunity to improve the quality of life for not only current residents, but for future residents. Access to the fastest internet speeds available will allow for remote learning, seamless streaming of entertainment, virtual doctor visits, video chatting with friends and family, and even working from home. To say that we are thrilled to be working with Dorchester County on this project would be an understatement."

For more information about the service areas covered, please visit our Dorchester County Rural Broadband Project Service Map. 

If your address was not covered within the Dorchester County Rural Broadband Project areas and you do not have high-speed internet, we encourage you to visit the South Carolina Digital Drive website to take the South Carolina Citizen Survey for Broadband Internet. This information will assist the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff in identifying those areas without high-speed, fiber-based internet. 

Residents can access this survey at the Dorchester County St. George – Jennie J. McMahan Library (506 N. Parler Avenue St. George, SC 29477) or the Summerville – George H. Seago, Jr. Library (76 Old Trolley Road Summerville, SC 29485), as well as the Dorchester County QuickJobs Training Center (5164 E. Jim Bilton Boulevard St. George, SC 29477).