From Alabama to the Navajo Nation: The company that's putting rural communities first

On this episode of Connected Nation, we begin our coverage from Calix ConneXions 2025, taking place in Las Vegas Nevada. 

We talk with Jacob Smithee, the Director of IT from a Co-op in Alabama, about the challenges of bringing high speed internet to extremely rural areas. Plus we find out what he hopes for connectivity in his state and how his company recently helped the Navajo Nation with a completely different problem.

Recommended links: 

Calix ConneXions 2025

Flash Fiber website

Transcript

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Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (00:00):
This is Connected Nation, an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband from closing the digital divide to improving your internet speeds. We talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our neighborhoods. On this episode of Connected Nation, I begin our coverage from CX Connections 2025 conference taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada. On this episode, I talk with the director of it from a co-op in Alabama about the challenges of bringing high speed internet to extremely rural areas. Plus we find out what he hopes for connectivity in his state and how his company recently helped the Navajo Nation with a completely different problem. I'm Jessica Sen, and this is Connected Nation.

(00:57)
I am at CX Connections, 2025 in Las Vegas, is held at the win every year. I was here a couple of years ago and had a blast, and I was so excited when they invited me back. And I have been wandering the halls, looking for a great interview, and I think I found one in Jacob Smithy, who is with, uh, flash fiber out of Alabama. Welcome, Jacob. Thank you. I was glad to find you. Everybody's in the main session right now, so the halls are kind of quiet. So I was just looking at badges and looking for <laugh>, my first victim of the day. I really appreciate it. So, uh, Jacob, tell us a little bit about, uh, flash fiber and what you guys do. 

Jacob Smithee, Flashfiber (01:34):
Okay. So, uh, flash Fiber is owned by Joe Wheeler Electrical co-op in northern Alabama, and Lawrence and Morgans counties. Um, we serve about 46,000, uh, electrical customers, and then we've got about 18,000 fiber customers that we support in two very rural counties. And so we provide fiber service to a lot of very rural, hard to reach people. Um, we finished our build out, so every electric member now has access to fiber and it's, it's a lot. So, so, 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (02:08):
Um, for the person, for someone who doesn't live in Alabama, what part is it Southern western? What part of the state is 

Jacob Smithee, Flashfiber (02:14):
It? So we're about one county south of the northern border. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, and right in the middle of the state, just south of the Tennessee River. Uh, if you take 65 straight through down Uhhuh, Alabama, you're gonna drive right through the Decatur or through Decatur. And once you hit Decatur, that's the kind of the start of our territory. East and west of Decatur is, are the two counties that we have, uh, that we serve. Um, and then, 

Jessica Denson, Connected Nation (02:38):
And when you talk, when you're talking rural, what kind of, um, geography is that? Is it trees? Is it flat? Is it mountainous? What is 

Jacob Smithee, Flashfiber (02:44):
It? Yes. 

Jessica Denson (02:44):
Oh, all of the above. 

Jacob Smithee (02:45):
So if you go kind of out to the east 

Jessica Denson (02:48):
Mm-hmm 

Jacob Smithee (02:50):
<affirmative>. You get trees in the end of the Appalachian Mountains, kind of that kind of territory. 

Jessica Denson (02:53):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (02:54):
Uh, we've got a substation that is way up high on a plateau, kind of creepy night when you go out there at 2:00 AM. Uh, and then on the other side we have, you know, really flat level areas. Lots of farms, lots of growing, all kinds of different things. There's actually a really big uptick of industrial customers coming out to us too, so mm-hmm 

Jessica Denson (03:14):
<affirmative>. There's a, I think, um, you know, there's this idea that, you know, rural America doesn't really need or want, um, access to broadband, but they do just as much as anyone, right? 

Jacob Smithee (03:23):
No, they, they all do. Uh, we get a lot of compliments and thanks for bringing it. We've had, I've had a customer just last week I was at a, a little small festival in town called Ville in our territory, Uhhuh <affirmative>, and had somebody walk up and said, I've never had internet before, and we provide them that internet. I don't, he was like, I don't know if it's good or bad, <laugh>, hopefully it's good. Um, uh, but he's like, I've never had internet at my house before this. So 

Jessica Denson (03:49):
Could you imagine? You don't even have access to the basic things that the rest of many of us have. Right. 

Jacob Smithee (03:53):
I can, uh, we actually just had a line crew come back from Arizona. We send them to help the Navajo nation put up power lines, 

Jessica Denson (04:00):
Uhhuh, 

Jacob Smithee (04:01):
And they helped put up three households where the power lines over a course of a week because of the challenges it has. But those people had never had power at all. And you're talking about we've had power in most of the United States for a hundred years now. 

Jessica Denson (04:16):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (04:17):
And these people have never had power. They've been waiting 80 years for power. 

Jessica Denson (04:20):
That's interesting because a lot of broadband providers are, a lot of what the talk was over the last several years was comparing it to the electrification of the us. You could really make a case that, like, if there are people on Navajo Nation or others that still don't have electric, we really have to use this moment in time to connect everyone. Don't you think? Yes. To broadband. We can't leave it 80 years <laugh>. 

Jacob Smithee (04:42):
No, we can't. And there, there are a lot of options outside of fiber mm-hmm <affirmative>. Which don't go with those. If you can, fiber's still the better choice,

Jessica Denson (04:49):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (04:50):
Um, but yeah, people in the, the world we live in today, they have to be connected. It's just the nature of, of the world we live in. And it comes with its pluses and its minuses. I've got two small kids and I worry about that kind of stuff too. 

Jessica Denson (05:02):
Mm-hmm 

Jacob Smithee (05:03):
<affirmative>. Um, and you got people that are cybersecurity. You have to worry about that kind of stuff. And, and if you don't have that connection, you never grow that awareness that you need to be aware of what's going on in the world. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Because you can't just consume the media that you get from the TV or the newspaper anymore. It's, it's, you 

Jessica Denson (05:22):
Have to have 

Jacob Smithee (05:22):
Some 

Jessica Denson (05:23):
Critical thinking with that. Yeah. Uh, so you're, you have two little kids, how old are they? 

Jacob Smithee (05:27):
Five and 10. A little boy and a little girl. 

Jessica Denson (05:29):
Yeah. So right at the age where that could really influence kids, right? Yes. Yeah. Um, so for you, you're director of it, talk about what you do in that role and how you as a father, like see yourself handling that with your kids. 

Jacob Smithee (05:43):
It's never getting a cell phone ever <laugh>. Um, no. So what I do, I fit more on the broadband side as a network engineer, managing the fiber network, that kind of stuff. 

Jessica Denson (05:54):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (05:55):
Uh, but there's a lot of stuff we do on the cybersecurity side to protect our customers and to protect our corporate business, that side. Uh, and that's another place where I'm in there as well as that is building out the infrastructure we need to support the electrical infrastructure. 

Jessica Denson (06:11):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (06:11):
There's a lot of things that have changed in the last 20 or 30 years with electrical and, and with the connectivity we have today, the meters that were put in 20, 25, 30, 40 years ago, we have to do updates to those. There's always maintenance and updates and things, and it's not as easy as you put it in once and you forget it. So there's, that's the biggest thing is maintaining what we have, building it up, and then continually to build out new services and features that, that people need in today's world. So, 

Jessica Denson (06:41):
So when you live in a, a rural area like that, and you mentioned the one person who said, I'd never had internet before. Yeah. Does it really feel like they're maybe not part of your family, but maybe the extended family? <laugh>? 

Jacob Smithee (06:52):
So I got a call today from an older lady on the way actually to the elevator, and I had to stop and take it. And a lot of my customers that I've, that have had trouble, they've got my phone number. So I think she wanted to check on something, but she also just wanted to talk to me. And that's mm-hmm. That's the mentality we like to foster with Joe Wheeler, it's, it's a co-op, it's, you're all members of our community, members of our family at this point. And that's, that's one of the big differentiators between us and somebody like Charter 

Jessica Denson (07:26):
Spectrum. 

Jacob Smithee (07:27):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Uh, we've got a lot of built in community roots that are right there. Our line crews live there. Everybody that works there lives there. We went through the storm, we're working. As soon as that's done, you know, we went through the same storm with you guys. We've gone through the same things with you guys. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, and it, it really is very much a family atmosphere. We wanna take care of our people and we, they show their appreciation to us a lot of times. 

Jessica Denson (07:53):
So, and as a co-op, really the, any profits you make go back into the system, is that right? Yes. How that works. 

Jacob Smithee (07:58):
So as an electrical co electrical co-op mm-hmm <affirmative>. We're a nonprofit, uh, on the fiber side, we are for profit, but most of that's going right back into the electrical co-op to mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know, make sure we're doing upgrades and reducing the cost to our members and things like that. Mm-hmm 

Jessica Denson (08:13):
<affirmative>. And it covers, it covers two counties, but how many people is that really? 

Jacob Smithee (08:19):
So we have, in those two counties, we have 43,000 members. 

Jessica Denson (08:25):
So really rural then. 

Jacob Smithee (08:26):
Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I think I might get the counties backwards, but I think Lawrence County in the west has roughly 110,000 people. Most of them on the big population centers for Decatur, molten, uh, Lawrence or Morgan County on the other side has 33,000 people. Uh, so they're, you're not talking about heavily populated counties at all. No. Mm-hmm. So, 

Jessica Denson (08:51):
So what are some of being in a rural area other than just know geography? Is distance the biggest challenge, distance is a challenge or is it having people to work, or what, what would you say? 

Jacob Smithee (09:02):
Finding people to work is not finding good quality people to work is, is hard. You gotta grow your people and give them opportunities to expand. Um, distance is always a challenge. It takes me two hours to drive from one end of our territory to the other.

Jessica Denson (09:17):
Oh, wow. 

Jacob Smithee (09:17):
So mm-hmm <affirmative>. I live on the farthest east side of it, so to get to our farthest west substation takes me roughly two and a half hours, two hours and 15 minutes 

Jessica Denson (09:26):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (09:27):
So in a pinch, if I've got something that goes down way over there, I'm calling up one of my other guys and saying, Hey, you're an hour farther to the E or to the West than me. Can you start rolling on that? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, and that's, that's the other thing is we've got people all over those territories that, you know, I can call up somebody and say, Hey, I need you to go check on this. And they may not be part of the fiber side, they might be part of the electric side and they'll still roll out and help us. 

Jessica Denson (09:53):
So that's awesome that you guys have that teamwork. Yes. So for you, you mentioned that fiber's the best option right now. What do you, why do you feel that 

Jacob Smithee (10:05):
<laugh>? So, uh, generally when you look at your latency and your bandwidth capabilities, it's gonna be your better option. Reliability wise, it's also typically gonna be a better option as long as you don't have some dove hunters shooting your fiber lines down. <laugh>, which is a real and legitimate concern we have, and a lot of co-ops have that are rural. 

Jessica Denson (10:26):
That's the first one I've heard of that 

Jacob Smithee (10:28):
The, we've dove hunting, shoot, we've had several incidents this year and last year it talk to any co-op. They're like, yeah, those dove hunters are getting me this year, or somebody will shoot it. Um, but for the most part, we build our networks for reliability and for being able to handle issues. And, um, and when it comes to fiber side, you just generally get a better experience overall. 

Jessica Denson (10:49):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (10:50):
I've got friends that are live in rural areas outside of our territory that they do use starlink because their next best option, they don't have fiber, they have DSL or something like that. 

Jessica Denson (11:00):
Ugh. DSL. 

Jacob Smithee (11:00):
So <laugh>, and that's the thing, when you get into the distances that, you know, rural co-op faces, you know, 40, 50 kilometers 

Jessica Denson (11:09):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (11:09):
That's a long way. So, and copper can't handle that. The only options you have are fiber and something like starlink or fixed wireless 

Jessica Denson (11:18):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And it's better than no internet.

Jacob Smithee (11:19):
It's better than no internet. Yeah. But the reliability there is always gonna be fiber first, then your star links, and then maybe fix wireless. 

Jessica Denson (11:28):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, so, uh, there's been a lot of talk about the bead money. Um, is this, has, is the state of Alabama or have they been talking to, to the local groups and stuff? Have you heard of that? Yeah, 

Jacob Smithee (11:40):
We, we've, we put in a BEAT application mm-hmm <affirmative>. And, uh, the experiences are good and bad. Yeah. A little bit of both mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, but it's, it's not something that it's, 

Jessica Denson (11:53):
It's not helping you guys. 

Jacob Smithee (11:54):
It's not helping us right now, no. 

Jessica Denson (11:55):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. Is it because of the holdup with the money, or are you expecting you're hopefully gonna get some, or your, your project wasn't chosen? 

Jacob Smithee (12:03):
It's a little bit of both there. Even if we had been chosen 

Jessica Denson (12:06):
Uhhuh, <affirmative>, 

Jacob Smithee (12:07):
There's no, like we, most of our stuff is built out already 

Jessica Denson (12:11):
Mm-hmm 

Jacob Smithee (12:11):
<affirmative>. So there's no bead money for things you've already built out into an area that otherwise would've required bead money to build out into. Got it. So, um, we do have some underserved areas that we bid on that aren't technically in our cooperative area. Um, and we didn't win those bids uhhuh, um, even though it seemed like we had the best option. 

Jessica Denson (12:34):
Gotcha. 

Jacob Smithee (12:34):
Uh, it's again, that's, 

Jessica Denson (12:36):
It's frustrating, right? 

Jacob Smithee (12:37):
It's, it gets frustrating there. There's, there's a lot of things that come into play with that mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, 

Jessica Denson (12:41):
And especially I would say, I would think, or I have heard actually from co-ops and ISPs, especially smaller ISPs, not the big, the big guys, you know, like not a Verizon or T-Mobile who may have huge teams 

Jessica Denson (12:54):
Yeah. 

Jessica Denson (12:54):
But for smaller groups, it must be a challenge to go through all that 

Jacob Smithee (12:59):
Red tape. It's, it's a, it is very much 

Jessica Denson (13:00):
A challenge. It's like, why should we, 

Jacob Smithee (13:01):
They actually have to hire specialists to help get us through a lot of that stuff. And so there's that side of it and then it's, it's, it's just, it's not designed for the little guys to win those. Yes. Most of the time. 

Jessica Denson (13:14):
What, what is your hope would come from all of that though? 

Jacob Smithee (13:17):
I would hope to see that either we get some of the co-ops and stuff like that, the smaller ones to come together 

Jessica Denson (13:23):
Mm-hmm 

Jacob Smithee (13:24):
<affirmative>. Uh, and there's already some push in that for, in Alabama and in Mississippi to, to group up some of the co-ops to, to put our bargaining power together and provide the services we provide together 

Jessica Denson (13:35):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (13:36):
Um, but it's, that's kind of the hope is that start leveraging the fact that we're the local companies we live in your communities, and that we would get some help from the states that we, that we work and live in. So that would be nice. 

Jessica Denson (13:51):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. So, uh, why did you come to the CEX conference? What was important for you to be here? 

Jacob Smithee (13:56):
So we're, we are a CEX customer. We use cex, rgs, so mm-hmm <affirmative>. Um, I was told that I should come out here and experience this for the first time. So this is my first time out 

Jessica Denson (14:05):
Here. It's pretty neat. It's a great conference. 

Jacob Smithee (14:06):
Yeah, it is pretty neat. It's not all of, it's my cup of tea, Uhhuh, it gets a little loud <laugh>. Um, I'm a nice quiet person most of the time, so Uhhuh. But there's a lot of things to learn, a lot of networking that has to go into, you know mm-hmm <affirmative>. It, it's good to know other people in the industry to be able to say, Hey, I'm experiencing this issue. What have you seen along these lines? Mm-hmm <affirmative>. You know, or to say, Hey, I've got this piece of equipment I'm not using anymore. I can give you a good deal on it. And, and so you can help each other out. You can grow that network of people that you know and 

Jessica Denson (14:37):
Mm-hmm <affirmative>. 

Jacob Smithee (14:38):
That that's the things that really, you come out to a conference like this, that's what you're looking for. You're looking for the updates on what's coming down the pipe and building that network of people that you learn and know about. 

Jessica Denson (14:48):
And, uh, before when we were setting up, I was asking you how the conference for you, you said you played some golf. How did you play? 

Jacob Smithee (14:53):
Uh, we finished minus 12 in our scramble, which apparently was pretty good. 

Jessica Denson (14:57):
Yeah. 

Jacob Smithee (14:57):
But, uh, my team mostly carried me on that one <laugh>, so I ate a couple good shots, but, uh, I am, I was by far the worst golfer in my foursome, so. 

Jessica Denson (15:08):
Oh. Um, okay. So I always ask people, usually when I have like a formal interview, I usually use this in advance, but when I we're out in the field, it's just whenever it comes to mind. Uh, tell me a little bit about you and your background. Are you a lifelong alabaman? 

Jacob Smithee (15:22):
Nope. I'm actually, I was an Air Force brat, Uhhuh <affirmative>, and went to school at Ball State University in Indiana. My family is all from Indiana, so that's where my parents retired to. And then coming outta school, I actually went to work for ADTRAN for 17 years. 

Jessica Denson (15:39):
Oh, wow. 

Jacob Smithee (15:39):
<laugh>. So this is the first time I'm at the CEX event because for the most part it would've been considered the enemy side <laugh>. Yeah. Um, and then for the last year and a half, I've been at Joe Wheeler. Jen, you enjoyed it. I do enjoy it. And I, I've enjoyed all of this so far. 

Jessica Denson (15:54):
Oh, well, Jacob Smithy, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you being my first guest at the CX Connections 20 20 25 conference. Jacob Smithee (16:03):

Thank you for having me. 

Jessica Denson (16:09):
Still ahead this year, we'll continue our coverage from CX Connections 2025 and talk with leadership from CX as well as other high profile speakers, and those with broadband companies from across the country. Until then, I'm Jessica Desen, and this is Connected Nation.