Talquin Electric Cooperative

Degredation of Talquin’s 30-year-old communications system was becoming more significant over time. Deficiencies ranged from excessive static and limited channel availability to poor signal strength and difficulty connecting with crews operating near the outskirts of the service territory. Ultimately, Talquin determined that its critical communications infrastructure was no longer reliable enough to meet its current and future needs.

Before mandatory narrowbanding was imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Talquin operated on channel bandwidths of 25kHz. Narrowbanding, however, required Talquin to transition to channel bandwidths of 12.5kHz or less on or before January 1, 2013. The result was static – lots of static.

According to General Manager Tracy Bensley, the excessive static problem left them with only one useable channel, which was not enough for its three primary businesses. “With water, waste water and electric, we needed the ability to split those into groups and put them on separate channels. Not having enough channels was a big problem,” said Bensley.

Coverage of the service territory was also an issue. Reliability along the outskirts of the territory was poor and there were certain areas with no signal at all. As a result, dispatch was having trouble connecting with employees in the field. Considering the region’s susceptibility for severe tropical weather events, the inability to communicate with crews working in the farthest reaches of the service territory was becoming a serious concern. Talquin Director of Information Technology Dane Clemons emphasized the need for reliable communications. “We need to be at our best when the weather is at its worst,” Clemons said.