Hinds County supervisors hold forums on broadband expansion

By Alice Thomas-Tisdale

JA Publisher Emerita

The Hinds County Board of Supervisors sponsored the first round of Connecting Communities: A Discussion on Broadband Access and Connectivity May 19-21, 2025. District 4 Supervisor Wanda Evers kicked things off Monday evening as she welcomed attendees to Belmont M.B. Church in Raymond, MS, pastored by Rev. Tonie L. Crisler. 

Evers gave her constituents a quick update on improvements being made to roads in Clinton, Byram, and Raymond, including cleaning out ditches over a span of one and a half miles. “I just ask you to be patient. We’re trying to make the money stretch to improve Hinds County.” 

The first term supervisor asked the same reserve in regards to being able to access high speed internet service. “Broadband is coming,” she promised. “This is about public safety, dignity, and basic access to modern life. No one should be disconnected simply because of where they live.”

Joining the conversation were DeKeither Stamps, Public Service Commissioner, Central MS District; Felicia Tripp, Hinds County broadband supervisor; Sally Doty, Executive Director, BEAM (Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of MS); and Johnathan Esters, information technology expert. 

Commissioner Stamps was adamant about parents pushing their unemployed adult children out of bed and off the couch to fill out applications with utility companies, or seek the necessary training to qualify for some 1,000 job opportunities in the industry. “It’s good pay, and they still won’t work. You go to work and they’re in the bed. You come home and they’re still in the bed. We need more people in the community taking care of the community,” he said. 

Most questions posed to invited speakers centered around when and where high speed internet service will be available in their community. A few attendees just wanted to know whether or not they will have a choice in which broadband service provider they can sign up with. 

“It depends on where you live,” Doty said.  “Thus far, we have prequalified 25 service providers.” AT&T, C Spire Fiber, and Xfinity are aggressively pursuing new customers with direct mail advertising. 

For those curious about when internet service will start, she urged them to look at the map available on BEAM’s website but also offered one-on-one assistance with BEAM staff to determine timetables that are dictated by the color coded map: Grey signals internet access is currently available; Green, high speed internet is in the works; and Red, internet is forthcoming under BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) Program, a federal program for the underserved that has yet to be realized in most states. Mississippi has been allocated $1B to serve 80,000 underserved locations. 

An unexpected lengthy discussion developed on the potential phase out of landline phone service. One could have heard a pin drop after Tripp speculated the year would be 2029. 

Each year, fewer and fewer households and businesses use landline phones. This, coupled with copper thefts and decrease in service providers’ bottom line, is leaving quite a dilemma: should those who don’t use a landline pay for those who do, or should those who use a landline pay for those who don’t in order to maintain phone service? “It’s a tug of war,” admitted Stamps. 

However, the meeting ended on a high note when residents had an opportunity to applaud the additional lighting making its way down Highway 18 toward Raymond. “Amen” rang out when Stamps said, “It’s too dark out here at night; it’s not safe.”