North Georgia getting high speed internet

Businesses, schools, hospitals and residents across North Georgia will soon be able to get high-speed Internet access, connecting them to the global marketplace for the first time. It's a monumental leap forward for the region.

"It's a big step," said Charlie Auvermann, the Executive Director of the Development Authority of Dawson County. "It opens up a lot of possibilities for this region." The project means that companies in North Georgia that currently need days to exchange huge data files with clients, using snail-mail, will now be able to transfer those files, online, in seconds -- just like their competitors across the globe. The money for North Georgia's new Internet network comes mostly from $33.5 million of federal stimulus funds announced by Vice President Biden in Dawsonville on December 17, 2009. The state and county governments, kicked in an additional $9 million for the $42 million project. Eight North Georgia counties are about to be connected, and other counties will be able to tap in to the network after that. The eight counties are Dawson, Forsyth, Habersham, Lumpkin, Rabun, Towns, Union and White.