ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — Broadband service is coming to the town of Elloree and other municipalities throughout Orangeburg County.
This broadband service comes on the heels of 44 storefronts being built along Cleveland Street to be leased out to new businesses.
“My husband and I fell in love with Elloree 30 plus years ago and we are ready to see the potential of Elloree come back to where she was all those years ago," said Krista Hassell of Elloree Development Group, LLC.
That being said, broadband in town is in high demand.
“We’ve had merchants that have not been able to take credit card payments because the phone service, the landlines have been down for days at a time," she said.
Lack of access to broadband in Elloree can be felt among local businesses. The owner of the Elloree Bed and Breakfast says some guests were left with no choice but to cut their stay short.
“We keep telling people fiber’s coming, fiber’s coming, fiber’s coming. Then they go let us know because we’d rather come for five days instead of just staying the night," said Dani Reeves.
The Tri-County Electric Co-Op is in the process of constructing fiber service in Elloree, Cameron, Eutawville, Holly Hill, and other surrounding areas. It starts construction in the fall and plans to get people connected in the spring.
"Through these efforts we've been able and blessed to be able to provide this service into these areas and our goal is just to continue to expand this service out to these underserved areas between working with the state, our elected, and just the local city, county officials to get this service to these citizens," said CEO Chad Lowder.