LiveOak Fiber announced that it has reached the halfway point for installing its high-speed internet network in Okaloosa County. 

However, the idea of overhauling Okaloosa County’s internet began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chief Revenue Officer Steve Smith and President Jody Craft of LiveOak Fiber- veterans of the communications industry – saw how the inability to access affordable high-speed internet separated the haves and the have-nots. “It’s very personal to me because I have seen what broadband can do for communities and individual lives, especially for students in high school. I know in Glynn County, [Georgia], many students couldn’t attend class during the pandemic because they didn’t have internet capabilities at home. And that’s why you’ve got people parked outside of McDonald’s to get free access to wifi, just so they could submit homework assignments.”

The company, founded by Jody Craft and Steve Smith, has hired 100 employees and begun serving several thousand customers in Okaloosa County and Glynn County. The company has spent $145 million building its infrastructure in Okaloosa County. 

LiveOak chose the two counties to start its business by looking for communities that experienced a rapid post-COVID-19 growth rate “Completely underserved by the incumbent providers,” said LiveOak Chief Revenue Officer Steve Smith. “Whoever had been there had been an absentee landlord. Infrastructure had not been updated in a long time.” Smith added that both locations had a strong local talent pool to draw. “If we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that ‘I can go somewhere else and work. I don’t have to go into an office.'”

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Smith notes that the work is not complete, and more customers will soon have an option between them, Valparaiso Cable and Cox. In Valparaiso, he believes the whole city will have access to its internet system in 2-3 months. 

Smith added that they are about halfway complete in Destin and are beginning work in Valparaiso, Fort Walton Beach, and Crestview. LiveOak still has some connectivity to install in the Niceville area as well. 

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Finally, Smith noted that the company has expanded its network to Camden and Chatham County, Georgia as well as Bay and Walton County, Florida. 

Dealing with Breaks and Water/Sewer Strikes. 

With any new construction – there have been some issues with existing water and sewer infrastructure. 

Some of LiveOak’s contractors have hit water and sewer mains as they’ve excavated to lay pipe in the Niceville area – but the city’s public works director says poor mapping of underground utilities has a lot to do with it. “There’s been a lot of strikes, but a lot of it is the city’s fault, where lines aren’t spotted, and we missed out on some service lines,” Public Works Department Director Jonathan Laird said, “It’s hard to spot sewer services without fluid running through the service lateral – it’s hard to pick up, so, we don’t charge them for that. A lot of it is not marked. We’re working together to get them out as quickly as we can.