Internet Service Providers

The Nevada County Broadband Committee has identified Internet Service Providers (ISPs) serving Nevada County, Arkansas during the BEAD process of 2024.

The Nevada County Broadband Committee follows the guidelines of the Arkansas Broadband Office and defines "broadband" as a internet access speed of at least "100/20".

The "100" means 100 megabits per second (100 Mbps) download from the internet.
The "20" means 20 megabits per second (20 Mbps) upload to the internet.
These benchmarks have been preferences of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for quite a while, were formally proposed with Increase Minimum Broadband Speed Benchmark
(PDF Document)
on November 1, 2023 and adopted with FCC Increases Broadband Speed Benchmark
(PDF Document)
on March 14, 2024.
The FCC plans a future benchmark of "1000/500".

The FCC has published a Broadband Speed Guide to assist in determining the speed you may need.

The Nevada County Broadband Committee lists information for only the ISPs that provide "unlimited" data without "throttling" or "overage" charges or have low-cost add-ons to make their plans truly "unlimited".

Broadband Providers - Residential and Business

The Committee has established relationships with these companies that help us evaluate partnerships for forming broadband initiatives in Nevada County. These providers currently provide broadband speeds over 100/20 and often have gigabit-class speeds.

CableLynx

Currently Serving: Most of Prescott and Emmet city limits
Web Page: https://www.cablelynx.com/
Use the link for "Residential Service" or "Business Service" to see plans and prices.
Most plans have data limits, but the company offers a low-cost option for "unlimited" for those who need the extra capacity.
The company typically offers promotions on contract.
Phone: 800-903-0508
"Cablelynx Broadband looks forward to partnering with the Arkansas State Broadband office and all local officials in Nevada county to accomplish delivering broadband to unserved and underserved areas in Nevada county. It is our privilege to currently serve Nevada county residents with our Cablelynx Broadband service. If the opportunity presents itself to provide those residents in Nevada county who do not have broadband service, then Cablelynx Broadband would certainly consider providing our service to those residents." (Chuck Launius, Vice President for the Central Arkansas Region for Cablelynx, December 15, 2023)
As of the BEAD process, CableLynx has completed construction in all areas for which they received grants.

South Central Connect

Currently Serving: All the area in Nevada County that receive power from SSC's parent company, South Central Electric Cooperative (since Fall 2022).
Currently Serving: Most of Prescott city limits (since October 4, 2023).
Web Page: https://www.scaec.com/home-connect/
Use the link for "Service Map" to see green for current areas served and gray for areas being built.
"Services" outline plans and prices.
Phones: Office: 870-246-3429, Toll Free: 855-269-3429
Email: info@southcentralconnect.net
As of the BEAD process, South Central Connect is working to complete the build for "CAFII Aution" grants they received for portions of eastern Nevada County and for RDOF grants in much of central and southwest Nevada County.

Walnut Hill Communications

Currently Serving: Southwest and Southeast Corners of Nevada County
Web Page: https://walnuthilltel.com/walnuthill-fiber/
The link to "Fiber Areas" shows areas served along with speeds and pricing.
Phones: Office: 870-921-4224, Toll Free: 800-255-1975
E-mail: information@whti.net
As of the BEAD process, Walnut Hill is almost, if not completely, finished with their build from "ARConnect - ARPA" funding in southwest Nevada County, specifically south of Nevada 3 / Arkansas 32.

Broadband Providers - Business

Fiber internet service providers that serve only businesses are excluded from the Arkansas Broadband Office's list of providers because of the "Affordability" factor (high price). The committee includes this ISP because it has a prescence is a part of the City of Prescott and is the local telephone company.

BrightSpeed

Currently Serving: A small number of businesses in Prescott who are close to their fiber infrastructure.
Web Site: https://www.brightspeed.com/ew/businesssolutions/
Apollo Global Management acquired the assets of the Lumen division of CenturyLink in August 2022.
Businesses are assigned a sales rep, who should be contacted to inquire about service.

LTE "Fixed Wireless" ISPs

Fixed Wireless internet service providers are excluded from the Arkansas Broadband Office's list of providers because they seldom provide broadband service of 100/20 or more. This fixed wireless ISP can meet the definition of broadband for some locations and can serve some customers in Nevada County. It may be the only choice or the lowest-cost choice for some locations in the county. Therefore, we include it in this list.

T-Mobile

Web Site: https://www.t-mobile.com/home-internet
Locations very close to their tower can have speeds in excess of the minimum broadband standard of 100/20. More distant locations (about 2-7) miles from their tower have reasonably good speeds.
$50/month, $30/month if cellular service is with T-Mobile.
They ship a device to you, you plug it in and WiFi® is ready, along with a couple ethernet ports.

AT&T, in the past, had a grant to offer home service, but none of the towers in Nevada County have the service available. Verizon offers home internet nationally, but has not yet made it available available in Nevada County Arkansas.

Satellite ISPs

Satellite internet service providers are excluded from the Arkansas Broadband Office's list of providers because of the "Affordability" factor (high price). Once lower-cost broadband service is available to all locations in Nevada County, this category will be dropped from our list of ISPs. This satellite-based ISP can meet the definition of broadband and can serve some customers in Nevada County. It is included in this list since it may be the only option currently available to some locations.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX)

Web Page: https://www.starlink.com
NGSO Satellite

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) Internet Service

DSL internet service providers are excluded from the Arkansas Broadband Office's list of providers because the technology is not capable of delivering broadband speeds of at least 100/20. Once internet service at broadband speed is available to all locations in Nevada County, this category will be dropped from our list of ISPs. This ISP is included in the list because it may be the lowest-cost option currently available to some locations.

BrightSpeed

Web Page: https://www.brightspeed.com/
Apollo Global Management acquired the assets of the Lumen division of CenturyLink in August 2022.
Services: DSL in much of their telephone service areas in Nevada County. Speed is a factor of distance, governed by the laws of physics.

Wireless ISPs

Wireless internet service providers operating with WiFi technology are excluded from the Arkansas Broadband Office's list of providers because the technology is not capable of delivering broadband speeds of at least 100/20. Once internet service at broadband speed is available to all locations in Nevada County, this category will be dropped from our list of ISPs. This ISP is included because it may provide service in Emmet where other services are not available or at a price lower than other services.

Premier Broadband

Web Site: https://premierbroadband.com

Possible Future Broadband Providers

The following ISPs were listed on the BEAD process Challenge Map March-April 2024. During that process, the Nevada County Broadband Committee experienced "issues" with these ISPs.

Century Tel of Northwest Arkansas, thought to now be BrightSpeed

Apollo Global Management acquired the assets of the Lumen division of CenturyLink in August 2022 and eventually renamed the service BrightSpeed.
Web Page: https://www.brightspeed.com/. The only services we could find in rural Nevada County is provided via DSL, which is not capable of broadband speeds.
Phone: 1-833-MYBRSPD. The Committee attempted to get information about broadband in Nevada County. The number is an order center. As expected, it unable to take an order for service that is not yet available. The center had no information about the status of the construction of service and was unable to direct us to anyone with the information.
As of the BEAD process, Century Tel of Northeast Arkansas has "RDOF" grants to build in southwest Nevada County, specifically east of Nevada 17 and south of Nevada 8.
Web Page for Arkansas Broadband Service: https://www.brightspeed.com/local/ar.
The web page lists serveral cities, all in north Arkansas, with none in or near Nevada County. When the Committee tried addresses in the area funded, we were able to find only locations that currently had BrightSpeed service (no speed indicated) or the only services available were up to 1.5Mbps, which is not broadband.
The Arkansas Broadband Office says it has a letter from CenturyTel saying they intended to build their grant locations.
Even though many residents of that area indicated their desire for the Committee to challenge their locations for fear the company would not construct service to these already-funded locations, the Committee was not allowed to do so during the BEAD process.

AIRECAST by South Arkansas Telephone Company (SATCO)

As of the BEAD process, AIRECAST listed 95 locations in and near Rosston that were purported to currently have "Business" service.
Web Page: https://www.airecast.com/
Phone: 870-798-2201
During the BEAD process, the committee was able to contact the company, which reported that no service was currently available. Because the committee was unable to communicate with anyone who could report the progress of construction, if any, the committee submitted a challlenge for the 95 locations makred as having service currently available.