Frequently Asked Questions

Gibson Connect is a not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of Gibson EMC, your electric cooperative (the same local people you already know and trust). Gibson Connect will provide advanced communications solutions (high-speed internet, telephone and TV/video) through a broadband fiber network.

Fiber is known for being future-proof, meaning that the fiber we install today will be able to handle increased data loads as the need for more and more speed grows. Fiber technology makes it possible to deliver speeds up to 1 Gig (1,000 megabits per second or 1,000 mbps). This is 100x faster than what the average home or business can get currently. Fiber is more reliable than other types of networks, less prone to interference and complications from lightning and other natural elements. Fiber also tends to raise the property value of homes.

Many of our members have asked us to meet this essential need. Because we are committed to improving the quality of life for our members, we’re going to try and help meet this need for reliable, affordable and high-speed internet service.

Gibson EMC members except those within Tennessee’s West Kentucky and Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative area. Tennessee law restricts our ability to serve these members. 

No. Your Gibson EMC board and management will only provide this service in a way that is financially feasible. The board has approved a phased-in approach to protect co-op members and the financial integrity of the cooperative.

We will use a participation model (join.gibsonconnect.com) that enables members to drive our construction process. We’ll have our service area divided into community and substation based participation zones. When a zone reaches the required participation level, our board will vote to move forward with engineering and construction.

We will offer a variety of excellent internet based services for our residential and business members. Our basic high-speed internet offering for residential members is 250 megabits per second down (how fast you can download something from the internet) and 250 megabits per second up (how fast you can upload something onto the internet) for $49.95/month. We’ll also offer a residential telephone for $29.95/month. If there’s enough interest, we’ll offer television packages too. For a complete listing of our residential and business offerings, check out the Products tab at join.gibsonconnect.com. 

You can register through join.gibsonconnect.com, call 1-844-859-6767 or come by your local Gibson EMC member service center (during regular business hours). If registering from the site, enter your address in the grey box on the right. There is a $20 registration fee that will apply to your first month’s bill, and you will be required to make a one year commitment. Registration will enable you to avoid paying a $200 connection fee later.

A typical phone service DSL line is about 6 megabits per second down  and about one megabit per second up. 250 megabits per second is a much higher speed internet service.

Once a zone reaches the required registration/participation level, our board will vote to move forward with engineering, ordering materials and construction. Unfortunately, we cannot provide a firm timeline. The answer is dependent on a number of variables like the number of miles of fiber that must be constructed within a zone and the number of zones currently under construction. We’re excited about providing this service, but please remember that delivering service over a 12-county area is a big job that may take many years to complete. Of course, as zones reach their participation requirements we will provide more specifics regarding timelines.

Encourage your neighbors to sign up too. The higher the participation in your zone, the faster we can provide this essential service.  

To register, go to join.gibsonconnect.com.