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Village of Parks eyeing internet expansion

Posted at 3:12 PM, Feb 27, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-27 16:12:30-05

Some residents of Parks may soon have access to better Internet service – or possibly access to service, period.

Mayor Kevin J. Kately said the village is considering an agreement with a company that would provide broadband to customers in a five-mile radius of the water tower.

The company, Cajun Broadband, is providing similar service to several other small towns in Acadiana, Kately said, and it seems to be working well there.

Parts of the village already have cable internet, but to extend it to other residents would be very costly, he said.

“This will open up an area where it’s available,” Kately said.

The company would put a transmitter on the village water tower, and then customers would install receivers on their homes, he said.

Kately said he’s asked the company for a formal proposal, including references, and will have the village attorney take a look.

“I want to get some feedback before we put a dollar on it,” he said.

Kately said it’s possible the village will do a six-month trial to see how the system works. Some people don’t have any internet at all, and it makes life difficult, he said.

“From our information-gathering it seems that some people are really desperate to have it,” he said. “This will benefit the people on the outskirts the most, but anybody in the radius will be able to get it.”

Kately said the village hall has the internet, but “right down the street, they have nothing. Anything will help.”

Within the next month, a final decision should be made, he said.