Company
A Fiber Optic Based Broadband company, within its region BalsamWest is the leading provider of broadband services via SONET & Ethernet service and the leading provider of collocation and Interconnection Services.

Headquarters
Sylva, North Carolina, USA

Founded
Both Phil Drake of Drake Enterprises and Principal Chief Michel Hicks of The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians founded BalsamWest in 2003 as broadband player serving the needs of the region.

Networks
BalsamWest has deployed approximately 300 miles of underground fiber that serves 10 counties in NC, GA & TN. The primary backbone is made up of Cisco 15454 operating at OC-192 the blazing speed of 10gigabits and Balsam's local loops operate at either OC-48 or OC-12, 2.5 gigabits and 622 Mbs respectively.

Rural Reach
• Andrews, NC
• Blairsville, GA
• Blue Ridge, GA
• Bryson City, NC
• Cashiers, NC
• Cherokee, NC
• Copper Hill, TN
• Cullowhee, NC
• Ducktown, TN
• Franklin, NC
• Hayesville, NC
• Hiawassee, GA
• Highlands, NC (coming soon)
• McCaysville, GA
• Murphy, NC
• Robbinsville, NC
• Sylva, NC
• Webster, NC
• Young Harris, Georgia

Awards
• Recognized for "Addressing Telecommunications Barriers for Tribal Lands” By GAO Report to Congressional Requestors (January 2006).

http://www.gao.gov/htext/d06189.html

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